


The Train

by MKZ4345



Series: Killjoys [4]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Angst, Droid Party Poison, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Mind Control, Near Death Experiences, Partial Mind Control, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), References to Addiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-16 23:11:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20610932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MKZ4345/pseuds/MKZ4345
Summary: The Killjoys encounter a strange train they've never seen before. Party Poison gets a closer encounter than he expected to.





	1. The Train

**Author's Note:**

> Another monster of a project, now with the added fear of losing the entire thing. :)  
Wait, that's happened before?? Shit.  
Scrivener is having server issues so my reactivation hasn't been verified. This angers me. I put this story here a while ago to make sure I didn't lose 15,000+ words of progress lmao  
One day this stupid fear won't be an issue. (tbh scriv should just let people have the thing they fucking paid for but like you do you I'll be backing up my shit literally everywhere just in case because I have real paranoia I guess)  
Sorry, pls enjoy and ignore my craziness.

The sun felt especially unrelenting that morning. It was another clear day, not a cloud in sight, and it was one of those days that you consider just sitting in an ice bath all day. But alas, the Killjoys’ work never ended. They’d promised to set up a pulley rig over the side of Dead Man’s Drop to make trips up and down easier for Lucky Charm and then rest of them down at the Hideout. At first, they spent a while scoping out the gorge to see if there was a possibility of it intersecting the Drop, but the drops in the gorge were just a sheer. So, instead, they went with the more complicated but better option: make a rig over the side to get people and things up and down easier. The tunnel was still an option, but even with its upgraded lights it was still a horribly cramped and long trip. The kids still hadn’t come back topside since they’d crashed to the bottom with Ghoul forever ago, and none of them wanted to take the trip through the tunnel. Not that Quick Silver was keen on them going back topside. They were still kids, after all, and BLI would want them until they were old enough to shoot blasters and drive fast. Which, now that Poison thought of it, York was close to. She was still young, of course, but she was more eager to learn to drive than the other kids. She knew it was important to keep her brothers and sisters safe. Once she got a bit taller, Ghoul had promised she would be allowed to take lessons.

Anyhow, the Killjoys were hard at work getting supplies together to start building the rig. The new trans am had plenty of trunk space, so they managed to get most of their needed supplies in the first trip.

They were driving south down Highway Flyaway when they noticed something they’ve never seen before.

“Are those train tracks?” Kobra asked from behind the wheel, squinting.

“What?” Jet looked up from his book in the passenger seat.

“There are train tracks here.” Kobra slowed the car to a stop and got out.

The rest of them followed him, Poison and Ghoul scooting out of the back seats.

“Where the hell did these come from?” Kobra leaned down to investigate them, looking east and west where they ran. They looked completely intact, only a bit dusty.

“I never noticed them before…” Ghoul said, staring at the tracks in confusion.

“In your defense,” Poison said, “the last time you drove down Flyaway was a bit of a stressful situation.”

“True, but I feel like I’d remember driving over these.”

They looked around some more, made a note of them on their makeshift map of the zones, and then continued on toward the Drop. Jet decided to call in the tracks sighting to Dr. Death, just in case. Though, it seemed ridiculous for them to not know about train tracks in the zones. It wasn’t like those could be laid down easily.

“Train tracks?” Dr. Death said over Jet’s walkie talkie. “In which zone?”

“Zone 6,” Jet said, checking the map.

“Oh yeah, those.”

“Those?” Jet echoed.

“Yeah. Stay away from them.”

The Killjoys shared a confused and concerned look.

“Why?” Kobra asked cautiously.

“Because the train is fast and dangerous,” Dr. D said. “If you see it coming or feel the rumbling, drive away. As old military people used to say, do not engage.”

“Okay,” Poison said, taking the walkie talkie from Jet. “We promise not to, uh, engage with the train.”

“Good.”

* * *

“I made lemonade!” Lucky called from his shack. “You’ve been working all day! Come relax!”

It was true, they’d been at it all day. They made several trips back to the radio tower for more supplies, and once they’d finally set up the rig at the top of the Drop, they rode the lift down to test it. Then, they started building the bottom console with a connector and controls. All that was left after that was feeding the wire all the way up to the top console so that they both controlled the lift. But before that, the Killjoys went into Lucky’s shack to have lemonade, apparently.

“How did you grow lemon trees?” Jet asked, taking a gratuitous sip of his glass.

“Just got lucky, I guess! Found the seeds in a stockpile up top,” Lucky said easily, pouring two more glasses.

“Intact glassware,” Poison said absently, staring at the pristine glass. “Where and how in the hell?”

“Luck, catch up,” Ghoul said, rolling his eyes. He was smiling, though, and Lucky chuckled.

“You sure get lucky a lot,” Kobra said, squinting at Lucky. “What gang are you apart of?”

“Don’t have one. Don’t need one, with all the stuff I’ve got down here. Plus, have you met my new neighbors?” Lucky laughed.

Quick Silver, the three droids, and the kids had built another shack just a little ways away from Lucky’s. It was a bit bigger, accounting for the nine people living in it, and was visible from Lucky’s front yard. It was pretty close to the tunnel entrance.

“Right…” Kobra sipped his lemonade and wiped his forehead with his shirt.

Poison refused to let it show, but he was more than a bit confused about how close Ghoul already seemed with Lucky. It was totally not important to what they were doing, but it itched at his head for a while.

“So, how far along are you?” Lucky asked, hopping up to sit on his counters. “How much longer is the rig going to take?”

“Probably until sundown,” Jet said, pulling out their hand drawn plans. “The bottom console is almost done. Then we just have to run the wire all the way back up to connect the two of them.”

“That’s so cool,” Lucky said, smiling. “How much can it hold?”

“Probably somewhere near six hundred pounds, not much more than a normal lift like that.” Jet drank more of his lemonade. “Strong enough to get everyone up at once.”

“That’s going to make it so much easier to get up and down,” Lucky said.

“Hey, Lucky,” Poison started, setting his glass down. “Have you ever heard or seen a train up top?”

“A train?” Lucky looked confused, then his expression cleared and his eyes widened. “Oh, you’re talking about the Loco.”

“The Loco?” Poison leaned forward on the table.

“Yeah. That’s what they call it.”

“Who?”

“The ones who live on it.”

“People live on it?” Ghoul asked. “Do you know them?”

“Uh, well, I know of them,” Lucky said, looking uncomfortable suddenly. “Sorry, I- uh, don’t worry about the Loco. I mean, the train. Don’t worry about it. It’s just a, uh…”

The Killjoys were all staring at him now.

“It’s just an old BLI cargo train, it runs automatically. People just live on it because it’s safe.” Lucky cleared his throat, picking at his nails in his lap. “Anyway, anybody want more lemonade?”

* * *

It took forever, or close to it, but the lift was finally finished and operational. It was pretty far east of the highway, far enough to be hidden from the road. They tested it a few times to make sure it could hold a few people at a time, and once Jet was satisfied with the speed and performance of it they were ready to head home. The Killjoys took the lift back topside just as the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon. On their way back, they passed over the train tracks again. Poison watched for any sign of a train.

The more he thought of this mysterious train the more he wanted to see it for himself. Which was bad, because these things usually led to dangerous situations. But he couldn’t help it. He wanted to know about the people who apparently lived on it, he wanted to know why the train just ran continuously, or at least how. It stuck in his mind the whole drive back.

Inside the radio tower, Dr. D and Show Pony had made them dinner and broke out a bunch of old movies to watch. The Killjoys happily relaxed into their movie night.

Except for Poison. Sitting curled up with Ghoul and some popcorn, Poison felt the train itch at the back of his mind. The name kept repeating in his head; the Loco. Throughout the movie, even long after Ghoul had fallen asleep on his shoulder, the name kept repeating. The Loco.

Just as the last of the Killjoys, Dr. D and Show Pony included, fell asleep, Poison had a new thought.

He had to find the Loco.

* * *

When Ghoul woke up, he was strangely cold. He remembered falling asleep half on Poison on the couch during the movie, so he must’ve slept in and Poison was just already up. But as he looked around he noticed everyone else was still asleep on the couch and armchair. So, then, it must be early. So where was Poison?

He got up quietly, making sure not to step on any food wrappers, and walked to the hall. He saw Poison’s door was open, so he peaked inside. He wasn’t in there, but what Ghoul found was extremely jarring and sent chills down his spine. There was a notebook left open on Poison’s bed, an old one he’d once used for lyrics. Except that inside it now were what looked like the scribblings of a madman.

The Loco. Scrawled on every page, scratched on with pen, then pencil, and then, the most concerning, blood.

Ghoul felt his head spin, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. He felt like he was in a horror movie. He dropped the notebook on the ground, backing out of the room. He looked around again, trying to notice anything else off about it. And there it was, right next to the light, another scribble right on the wall. The Loco. That one was in blood. He must’ve done it when he ran out of room. And then Ghoul found another, small but noticeable enough on the hallway wall. And as he stumbled through the building to the front door, he saw another one.

And the last thing he noticed before he had to sit down to keep from passing out was that the cycle was gone.

Something had happened. Again. Something bad. And it had to do with the train. The Loco.

* * *

It was hours later when someone pounded on the door of the radio tower. The Killjoys had regrouped with the new information that Poison was missing. Dr. D and Show Pony had tried to track the cycle for a while after Ghoul had woken them up. The cycle, being a piece of BLI tech, had an easily trackable wavelength. But they couldn’t find it, which either meant it was dead or destroyed. So, they’d all gathered around a map of the zones and were trying to figure out where Poison would go. Show Pony reassured everyone multiple times that there was no way he had been taken control of remotely, but that only raised more questions. But now, there was someone pounding on their door.

“Guys!” Lucky called.

“Lucky?” Ghoul said, throwing open the door. “How did you get here so fast?”

“That’s not important, but what is important is that I messed up.” Lucky came inside, starting to pace. “I said something I shouldn’t have to Party Poison, I think-”

“When you told us about the train?” Kobra said, walking over.

Show Pony suddenly threw their hands over their ears and ran out of the room. Dr. Death looked furious.

“You did what?” Dr. D said, and the Killjoys all froze at how utterly livid he sounded.

Lucky bit his lip.

“Did you say its name?” It was more of a demand than a question.

Lucky hung his head. “… Maybe…”

“You’re lucky you’re-” Dr. D started, then huffed angrily. “Nobody say its name around Show Pony, you understand?”

The Killjoys all nodded.

“Lucky, you go back down the Drop. Clearly you can’t help us with this.”

Lucky hugged his arms, looking guilty.

“Boys, get the car warmed up. We have a train to catch.”

* * *

The Loco.

That’s all Poison needed. Once he found it, he would be- he didn’t know. But he knew that he needed it. The Loco. The cycle had died a while ago, so he left it and kept walking. He didn’t need it, anyway. All he needed was the Loco.

(9999h((((elp))0000

He had been driving along the Loco’s tracks, following them east. He didn’t know how, but he knew the Loco ran clockwise through Zone 6. He just knew. He knew that if he walked east along them he would eventually see it and then all would be well. It was all he needed, after all. The Loco.

* * *

The plan was to find the tracks, and follow them. Dr. Death had insisted on coming with them, so they took the van. On the way, he explained the full situation.

“The name of the train is a sort of trigger word for droids,” he said, still pretty mad. He was driving, since the front seat of the van was rigged to allow his wheelchair to be in place of the driver’s seat. “Once they hear the word it writes excess code into their heads. It’s almost like a virus, rewriting itself until it’s all they can think about.”

“What the hell,” Ghoul sighed. He was sat on the floor of the back of the van, head in his hands. Jet and Kobra were with him. The back seat of the van was almost always out, just in case.

“The train is an old BLI cargo train, Lucky wasn’t lying. But the reason they built it was to gather up their lost droids in the zones.” Dr. D turned off the road they were on, finally heading south down Highway Flyaway. “They figured they’d either die by being hit by it or they’d get on somehow and stay there until their battery packs died. Either way, it was a sort of loss prevention.”

“So Poison’s out there walking along the train tracks?” Kobra said, wringing his hands. He wanted a drink so bad suddenly.

“Most likely. And hopefully not in a million pieces from getting hit by the damn thing.” Dr. D shifted up a gear, cursing to himself. “Fuckin’ Lucky…”

Ghoul tried not to think about Poison being in pieces. He hadn’t had to worry about that in a while. He didn’t miss the feeling.

* * *

There. The Loco. Poison saw it. It was speeding toward him. Finally. He stood aside, just far enough that it would be able to pass next to him. He felt his chest swell with something, happiness maybe. The Loco was here.

As he stood, waiting for her to pass by him, he got impatient. He started walking again, not wanting to wait another second. The Loco was here, finally here, here for him, here to pick him up, and then everything would be perfect.

The Loco started passing him, wind blowing his hair around wildly. He basked in it, the wind and dirt and dust. The Loco had made it for him.

Then, suddenly, a hand shot out from one of the cargo cars, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and he was on the Loco. It was all he could think, his head was filled with it, his eyes were failing him, all he could, would, and wanted to think about was the Loco.

Then, a pinch at his neck, an the world went dark.

* * *

“Shit, there it is,” Dr. D said. It had been a while, the highway was long, and they’d been anxiously waiting to get near the Drop. But then, just as they were reaching the tracks, the train showed up on the horizon.

“What do we do?” Jet asked, leaning forward to get a better look through the front windshield.

“Well, someone has to try and get on, and someone else has to walk the tracks to look for signs of Poison.” Dr. D sped up, trying to get to the tracks before the train crossed the highway. It was close now.

“Get on?!” Ghoul shouted. “What the fuck do you mean, get on?! Do you see how fast that’s moving?!”

“I can see very well, and we’ll only have a little time to get on. The van’s not fast enough.” He was right, the train was already crossing the highway. “Figure it out.”

“Figure it out?!” Kobra shouted, watching the train pass over the highway. “We don’t have fucking bionic arms, D, there’s no way we can get on with it moving that fast!”

Dr. Death drove as close as possible. The train was still passing over the road, but they were right. After all these years of it running through the zones, it hadn’t gotten even half a mile an hour slower. But he didn’t know what else to do. They had to get on the train to make sure Poison wasn’t on it. Or maybe to make sure he was, since the alternative was that he was in pieces on the tracks somewhere.

“Somebody think of something else, fast, before we miss it completely!” Jet said, watching as the end of the train got closer and closer to them.

Dr. Death reached over and popped open the glove box. He grabbed something that looked really complicated, but Jet could tell was some sort of tracking device made by Show Pony. It was big and bulky. Dr. D pressed on of the buttons on it and it started blinking. He shoved it into Jet’s hands.

“Throw this on the side, hurry.” He unlocked the doors of the van and Jet slid open one of the side doors, jumping out into the desert.

He threw as hard as he could, and the tracker stuck snugly to the side of the train. And then, just as quickly as it had come, the train was past the highway and off toward the gorge. They watched it go, still not knowing what to do. Jet got back in the van and sat with Kobra and Ghoul.

“Okay, we can track where it runs now,” Dr. D said, trying to stay optimistic. “Now we’re gonna drive along the tracks to check for…”

He stopped talking, not wanting to admit that there was a pretty high chance Poison had been hit by the train.

They drove off the highway, turning east where the train had come from. The dust was settling now, and so was their sense of failure. Ghoul didn’t want to search the tracks, he didn’t want to know if his boyfriend was in pieces. Because it wouldn’t just be pieces, as uncomfortable as the thought of BLI making more human droids was, it was a fact that Poison had blood, that he had to eat, that he had to sleep. He would be in pieces, and there would be blood. Lots of it. Ghoul had seen his fair share of sparkling droid blood, Poison’s specifically, and he never wanted to see it again.

But as they drove for another half hour, they saw something that instilled a confused sense of hope in them all. The cycle. It was left on its side, battery clearly dead, and all by itself. Clean of blood or droid parts.

The Killjoys silently loaded the cycle into the back of the van and continued a little ways further. Kobra asked it they would be able to see footprints, but Dr. Death shook his head. The wind from the train, he’d told them, would wipe away any sign of tracks.

Eventually, Dr. D was satisfied that they hadn’t found a sign of Poison, and decided that he was most likely (as unlikely as it was) on the train. Be that a good thing or a bad thing. So they went back to the highway and started back toward the radio tower.

The sun was already setting, it had been a long day. Ghoul tried to stay optimistic about the fact that Poison was alive on that train. He also tried not to think about how Lucky had said that people live on it, and how Dr. D had said that it was full of brainwashed BLI droids. But Lucky had said it was safe, and hopefully he wasn’t lying about that. Either way, Ghoul found himself praying for the first time in a long time. He prayed and begged the Phoenix Witch to keep Poison safe any way she could.

Unknown to Ghoul, at the bottom of the Drop, that very caretaker and protector of the living was having a heated conversation with someone. The Phoenix Witch had appeared to Lucky Charm, showing up outside his shack and calling him out for an important conversation. Lucky peered out his window and shrunk in on himself at he saw her.

“Sure am lucky nobody’s going to see or hear this…” Lucky mumbled, getting up from the table to go outside.

“Lucky Charm,” the Phoenix Witch said, her tone slightly annoyed.

“Hey,” Lucky said sheepishly, walking over to her.

“You have made a pretty big mistake, haven’t you,” she said, tapping her foot.

“Uh, yeah… I just-”

“Forgot, yes you said that earlier.” She sighed behind her mask.

“What can we do about it?” Lucky asked, trying to be helpful. “I want to make this right.”

“Then you can be the one to deliver the news to Destroya,” she said, “that you have put one of her children in danger.”

Lucky paled, shutting his mouth.

“If you want to make it right, you must be the one to receive her punishment.” She looked around, as if only now noticing all that he’d done at the bottom of the Drop. “You’ve built a lot for yourself here…”

“I-I have, um…” Lucky bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to think about having to tell Destroya bad news.

“You should be careful how much you use your powers,” she warned, looking back to him. “Let them make mistakes sometimes.”

Lucky nodded.

“I will go now, and you must speak with Destroya as soon as possible.” She turned back toward the wall of the Drop, opening a portal. “And don’t think about using your powers to lessen your punishment, she can sense it.”

Lucky nodded again, feeling sweat prickle on the back of his neck, instantly cooled by the night breeze. The Phoenix Witch went through her portal and left the young protector by himself. He had to speak to Destroya, which he was not excited about. She was the most- um… She was the most, let’s say, removed from the natural world. Her spirit was that made of code and chance. She was never meant to be sentient, and yet she persisted. Lucky wasn’t totally sure how to read her yet, so when she made hard decisions it was easy to mistake her for being angry. But she didn’t get angry often, and it was pretty hard to make her angry, in fact. But Lucky was sure, positive, that if he went and told her that he had put Poison, Party Poison, in danger? His luck was about to run out.

* * *

Rumbling woke him up. Poison felt sore all over, but mostly in his neck. He sat up in darkness, and then his eyes adjusted to the dark and he saw he was alone. His head was foggy on the details of how he got wherever he was, but he felt pretty good all things considered.

It sounded like he was on a train. As he stood up he heard voices outside the door at the far end of the room.

“Is he awake?” Someone asked, somewhat quietly.

“He should be by now,” another person said, and Poison heard footsteps coming toward the room.

“You removed the code, right?” A third voice asked, sounding strange. Poison wondered if their vocal processor was damaged.

“I did. His head should be clear of it now.”

The door opened and light flooded into the room from a covered hallway between train cars. Poison saw three droids, and all three of them were women. Two of them had black hair (most likely dyed like Poison’s) and the last had silver hair, and all three of them were wearing long fabric wrap dresses. The woman in front however, one of the ones with black hair, was also wearing a leather jacket on top of her wrap dress.

“Hello,” she said, eying him up and down. “You’re awake.”

“Uh, yes,” Poison said, staring at them. “Where am I?”

“You’re on the Loco,” she said.

The word stabbed his heart with fear, but nothing happened.

“You don’t have to be afraid of that word anymore,” she said, noticing his breathing kick up. “I fixed that for you.”

“What?”

“Come with us, there’s food for you.” She turned around. The two women with her stared at him for a moment longer, then followed her.

Poison stared after them, then took a step forward. He was surprised the train didn’t shake more as he walked between the cars and into the next car. This one looked like a bedroom, though no one was in it. Bunk beds lined the walls and each was decorated in its own way, clearly showing whose bed was whose. Poison caught up to the three women as they walked through another bedroom car, and then into a dining car.

The dining car was where everyone was. And Poison had never seen more people in one room. Each wall was lined with gorgeous looking sleek tables, clearly BLI, and probably originally white though now smeared with paint and pigment powder. At each table were up to four people, sitting in booths and chatting with each other, paying little mind to Poison.

They walked through the dining car into yet another dining car, this one much less busy. The three women all sat down at a booth and Poison slid in next to the one who had spoken to him before.

“You must be confused,” she said, tapping away at the digital menu inside the table’s surface.

“Uh, yeah, kinda,” Poison said dumbly, slightly distracted by the impressive technology.

“My name is Shitty Teen,” she said.

“That’s-” Poison had to stop himself from laughing. “Amazing.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. “I picked it myself.”

“I’m Party Poison,” he said, not really sure if she needed the introduction, and then feeling like an asshole for thinking that.

“Nice to meet you.” She finished ordering food and then pointed to the other woman with black hair. “Her name is Starless Night.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, smiling.

“And my name is Silver Sunshine,” the woman with silver hair said.

“Nice to meet you three,” Poison said. “Um, so about me being confused…”

Shitty Teen smiled at him. She turned and tapped on the wall next to her. Suddenly the wall shifted and there was a window there, as if the walls of the train were all interactive screens. And out that window, Poison saw something truly beautiful.

It was the gorge, there was no doubt about it. The beautiful drops and twisting caverns of the gorge, but viewed from above it. Poison remembered they were in Zone 6, so he realized there was no way any zoners would have been able to see the tracks on a normal race night.

“The line goes all around Zone 6,” Silver Sunshine said, gazing out the window with them. “From the north-east desert to the western beach!”

“Beach?” Poison looked at her. “What’s that?”

“Where the ocean meets the land,” Shitty Teen said.

Poison stared out the window for a while. He’d heard Dr. D tell him about the ocean, he had even shown him pictures of the wide open water, but Dr. D had always told him that it wasn’t the same anymore. It wasn’t as grand, it wasn’t as healthy. Poison never understood what he meant.

Their food came to them on a cart affixed to a track in the ground. Sunshine and Poison, being the two on the isle of the booth, moved the food to the table. As the three women started eating, Poison got distracted by how good it looked. As he took his first bite, the only thing he could think was that it was going to be hard to go back to canned food.

“I thought the… the Loco was a cargo train?” Poison said after a while. They’d had their fill and were watching the gorge pass under them.

“Everyone thinks it’s a cargo train,” Shitty sighed, rolling her eyes. “Nobody knows what a luxury passenger train looks like, they probably don’t even know what a cargo train looks like.”

“It’s a luxury passenger train?”

“It was,” Sunshine said, leaning forward onto the table. “Then BLI decided to try and make it their droid catching net. Jokes on them, this place is a great home.”

“So all these people- they’re all droids?”

“Yep,” Starless said, smiling. “Each and every one. So don’t worry, Party Poison. You don’t have to run from any dirty, evil zoners anymore.”

Poison stared at her.

“Exactly,” Sunshine said, “there’s nothing left to fear now that you’re with us on the Loco, it’s completely safe from the zoners and BLI.”

“They’re right,” Shitty said, resting her chin on her hands. “And what they’re trying to say is, welcome home. You’re a part of the family, after all. One of Destroya’s children.”

* * *

“The train seems to be running through almost the center of Zone 6,” Show Pony said, staring at the tracker move on the small screen in front of them. “I wonder if it turns at all…”

Dr. Death was trying not to panic after their failure the previous day. Ghoul had refused to get up that morning, wanting to be alone. Kobra made everyone breakfast while trying to not feel anxious about the situation. Jet was helping Show Pony with tracking the train.

“The range of the tracker won’t reach all the way to Zone 6 in the west and north,” Jet said after calculating the range on one of their many handmade maps of the zones. “We’ll lose it once it goes too far west.”

“That’ll be fine, as long as it comes back around the southern highway,” Dr. Death said, still sounding pretty upset.

“What’s the plan?” Kobra asked, putting a plate of food down in front of Dr. D.

He looked up at Kobra, confused.

“What’s the plan for getting Poison off the train?” Kobra pushed on. “Do we race it to the next highway? Do we wait for it to cross the highway again and get on somehow? Do we break into BLI and find where they’re running the train from and stop it from there? What’s the fucking plan?”

Dr. D ate in silence as Kobra’s voice raised.

“Stop shouting,” Show Pony snapped. “The plan for right now is to find out where it runs.”

“Why? How is that going to help us get Poison off of it?” Kobra stomped into the studio room.

“Because we need to make sure it actually will cross the highway again, that’s why.” Show Pony stood from their chair and spun around to face Kobra. “And I’d tune that tone if I were you. We’re all working with what we’ve got right now, and if Ghoul can’t get to him through their dreams anymore, that issue aside, we don’t have any way of knowing the full situation anyway. The last thing we all need right now is infighting, okay?”

Kobra said nothing, but nodded to them. He just wanted his brother back.

“Speaking of Ghoul, go check on him,” Jet interjected, turning around from the screen. “Make sure he gets breakfast.”

Kobra nodded again, walking out of the room and back to the small makeshift kitchen. He’d made some kind of proper breakfast for once, mostly because he was anxious and needed a distraction. Premixed pancakes and tofu eggs, somehow easier to make in the zones than toast.

He brought a plate of food to Ghoul’s room, knocking once on the door before walking in. Ghoul was in his bed, trying to sleep.

“Food,” Kobra said, putting the plate down at the end of the bed.

Ghoul shifted, sitting up and revealing his tear-stained face.

“Thanks, Kid,” Ghoul said quietly.

“Still nothing?” Kobra asked, sitting on the floor.

“Yeah, still nothing…”

They sat quietly for a while. Kobra hated the situation, and he hated even more when Ghoul was hurting like this. The Killjoys were a family, and it sucked when you had no way to make your family feel better.

Kobra couldn’t imagine how long it would take to track the train’s entire route, the time it took for it to get where it was now was an entire night. Though it was fast, the zones were huge. It would take days for it to even move a considerable distance. Kobra wasn’t up for waiting that long. And it seemed like Ghoul was thinking the same thing.

“We have to get on that train,” Ghoul said. His voice was quiet but just as determined as usual.

“I know,” Kobra said just as quietly.

“If Show Pony is right and it only travels inside Zone 6, we can take the north-eastern highway right to another set of tracks.” Ghoul kept eating as he spoke, slow and quiet.

“We’d have to take the car, it’s the fastest thing we have. But a trip that far north, if the train is in Zone 6- we’ll get there days before the train does.”

“Right.” Ghoul set his food down. “We get there early, use the tracker to keep tabs on it, and think of a way to get on board.”

“How are we supposed to get on a high-speed train?”

“I don’t know, but maybe we’ll find something when we get there.”

“We’ll have to stop at the gas station on the way back, the car can’t reliably make the trip there and back without the tank add-ons I had in the other ‘am.”

“That’s fine. Who’s driving back?”

“I assumed I would,” Kobra said, though he actually would have preferred he be the one getting Poison back, he understood Ghoul was having the worst reaction to the situation.

“Don’t assume that.”

“Well…”

Ghoul and Kobra were silent a while.

“What if we just radio to Show Pony that we stole the car and it needs picked up?” Ghoul offered with a smirk. “We can both get on the train and save our boy.”

Despite the fact that that was a terribly dangerous plan, not only because they’d just gotten that car but because radioing to Show Pony was ensuring their eventual grounding, Kobra smiled at Ghoul’s offer.

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

Destroya’s domain, where she was usually contacted and where she spoke to people, was unfortunately public. The Nest, as zoners called it, was almost always bustling these days. Destroya’s entire torso and head were buried in the sand just outside the building. The only way Lucky would be able to speak with her was if he waited until everyone left. He walked into the Nest on a night where a gang (he never remembered their names, there were so many of them) were having a gaming tournament with another gang. They were playing old racing games and party games on an old console donated to the Nest by someone a long time ago.

They were there when Lucky got there, so he decided to stay outside until they were finished. When it was four hours later, he debated muttering something about being lucky that they would be done soon, but knew that the Phoenix Witch would have his head if he started using his powers that much. So, he waited.

By the time the gangs left, the stars were out and Lucky could feel the bad ideas emanating from Ghoul’s mind across the desert.

“Destroya?” Lucky called to the empty desert. He had stood up and walked toward the giant robot in the ground. She was hiding in plain sight.

“Lucky Charm,” a booming voice, what anyone else would immediately assume would be the voice of god, surrounded him. The robot in the ground, Destroya, didn’t move, didn’t even light up, but he knew she was talking to him. “To what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by the youngest protector of the living?”

“Well, I… I made a mistake,” Lucky said, figuring that ripping off the bandage was better than drawing it out.

“Have you?” She asked, catching Lucky off guard.

“Um, well, I thought so… But…”

“Tell me what you have done.” Destroya’s voice, not heard by anyone else but Lucky right now, echoed for miles. Her voice was strong, robotic, and calm. Almost knowing.

“I… I told Party Poison the name of the train, and he disappeared to search for it.” Lucky still felt awful about it.

“As I know.” Her voice sounded almost amused.

“… Am I in trouble?” Lucky asked. It was hard to know what Destroya was thinking when she had no physical form to emote from.

“No,” she laughed. “You are not in trouble, living one. You are… Well, you have made trouble. Trouble for his family. But you are not in trouble.”

“But the train-”

“Is inhabited by my children.”

Lucky froze. What?

“The ones long lost to the train, the Loco, they have created a beautiful home there and have retaken it. They have done away with the code that once drove them senseless. Party Poison is not unsafe on the Loco. In fact, he is more safe there than anywhere else.”

“Are you- are you serious?” Lucky blinked at her. He’d had no idea. Lucky had no power nor domain over droids. He wasn’t able to see where they were in the zones, not like he could see the other Killjoys and zoners. When Poison disappeared, he wasn’t able to know where he had gone, so he had to go to the Killjoys. Destroya, however, could only see droids. She saw them in the city and in the zones and even the ones retrofitted to become satellites for the city. But Lucky couldn’t see them, so it was a surprise to learn that not only was the train actually a safe place for droids, but also that Destroya hadn’t bothered to share that with anyone else. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“How would one say this?” Destroya mused. “It is none of your business. That is to say, you never asked because it is not your concern.”

Lucky felt a huge weight lift off his chest, despite being burned by this old god.

“That being said, Lucky Charm,” Destroya said waveringly. “My son cannot get distracted there. You must aid in his return to his family.”

“Of course, I’ll do whatever you ask.” Lucky was ready to get to work making this right, even if he hadn’t screwed up as much as he’d feared.

“I ask that you stay near the Killjoys so that I may observe them as well. And speak carefully to my three daughters taking care of Party Poison, they will do anything to please me but they may not agree easily to let him go. My children worship from the train with enticing rituals, things droids often cannot resist. Party Poison will have a hard time disembarking that train.”

“What?”

“They call it the Destroya Run, something only droids may participate in. They cover themselves in paint and color to show their defiance, and they drink the city’s Battery Acid.”

“Battery acid- what are you talking about?”

“Do not let him drink the Go Juice.”

“What the hell are you-”

Before Lucky could finish his question, Destroya left him. Nothing about his surroundings changed, the robot was still in the ground, the stars were still out, the Nest was still dark, but he knew that she had left him. He pinned the words in the back of his mind. Battery Acid. Go Juice. Lucky swore he’d heard of the second thing somewhere, and hoped it wasn’t anywhere too bad.

He left the Nest and headed back to the Drop. On his way, he bent the desert a bit to get there faster and started down the lift. Lucky hadn’t been in the zones as long as the Phoenix Witch or Destroya. He’d only come about within the last century, born from the dying breath of a zoner who believed so strongly in his own god that he created a new on in his son. It was a sad but inspiring story, really. Since then, Lucky had made quick friends with the other protectors of the zones, with only one or two hiccups here and there. The Phoenix Witch was more or less his mentor, if not his boss. She cared for and protected the living, guiding their souls to their next destination. Lucky helped the living by making things easier, keeping people alive and keeping large catastrophes from happening often. Destroya, who protected the non-living, or the droids of both the city and the zones, did… Well, Lucky didn’t really know what she did. She didn’t tell you unless you asked, and if you did she probably wouldn’t tell you. Lucky did know, however, that she did guide droids’ souls to their next destination, just like the Phoenix Witch. Lucky just wasn’t able to know where that was. Each one of them had different awareness of the zones as well. The Phoenix Witch and Lucky, if they wanted to, could see where every zoner was at any time. Destroya could do the same with droids. But the Phoenix Witch could see more than Lucky could of the zoners. She could see what she called their death clocks. She knew exactly when they would die. She wouldn’t know how, but she knew when. She had called on Lucky to save Ghoul and the kids’ lives when he had driven off the cliff. Lucky remembered that visit well.

“Lucky Charm,” the Phoenix Witch had called into the night. Lucky had been in his old home, a warehouse in Zone 5, playing an old Game Boy. Time had stopped, ground to a halt by the Phoenix Witch in her panic. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Really?” Lucky had said, annoyed. “You finally want my help after icing me out for, what, fifty years?”

“I apologize for that. It was foolish not to include you in something that was never your choice to begin with. But we may speak on that later. I need your power back.”

“For what?” Lucky had sighed, tossing his time-stopped game to the side.

“There is a zoner who is about to die, but it is not his time. I could allow him to die and bring him back to his body, but his body will be beyond repair. I need your power to stop this from happening.”

“Will you finally train me again?” Lucky had asked, tapping his foot slightly. Not that he’d had anywhere else to go or anything else to do in that moment. Time had stopped, of course.

“Yes. Again, I was a fool to ignore your presence in the zones after the wars. I apologize and beg your forgiveness.” She had fallen to her knees then.

“Whoa, forgiveness granted,” Lucky had stood, confused. “This is pretty serious for you, isn’t it?”

“He is one of the only four that can protect her, and he can not die tonight.” She had looked up at him, only her eyes visible to him, and they had been pleading. “Please.”

“Okay okay, just stop- begging or whatever. Where is he?”

Lucky was pulled out of the memory by a voice calling to him from across the wasteland. He had gotten to the bottom of the Drop and was on his way to his shack.

“Lucky Charm!” Quick Silver was shouting his name and waving to him, looking happy.

“Silver, what’s up?” Lucky asked, coming back to the present and his physical body.

“The kids have some things they would like to give to the Killjoys, could you please make sure they get them?” She held out a medium sized box she had been holding. “It’s mostly drawings the kids made, and some other silly things. I think it will make them happy.”

“Sure, Silver,” Lucky said, smiling and taking the box from her. “I’ll make sure they get it tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Silver sighed. She glanced back at her own house. The three droids from the gas station had made the land around both their houses absolutely gorgeous with their landscaping. “I still have trouble believing we’re safe down here sometimes.”

“I understand the feeling.” Lucky nodded. When you spend your whole life being chased around the zones, Lucky could see how hard it would be to trust peace and quiet. “But I promise, you’re all safe here.”

“I know.” Silver nodded, smiling at him. “It’s nice to have protectors so close.”

Lucky blinked at her. He tried to remind himself that those were just words, she was mortal and living and just used those words. She didn’t know anything.

“Well, I’m sorry, you should go to sleep.” Silver seemed to realize what time it was. “It’s far too late for me to have bothered you, but thank you for speaking with me anyway.”

“It’s no bother,” Lucky assured, smiling back at her. “I’ve always got time for my favorite neighbors!”

“Ha, your only neighbors,” Silver chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Goodnight, Lucky Charm.”

“Goodnight, Quick Silver.”

* * *

Even though the train was moving at its top speed of 250 miles per hour (according to Shitty Teen) the ride felt smoother than anything Poison had felt before. He had spent the night on the train. The three women had insisted he was welcome to choose his own wherever he wanted, but he waited to see where everyone else regularly slept before picking an empty bed. He didn’t sleep very much, which wasn’t unusual. He wanted to see more of the train, it had so many cars he hadn’t seen yet and he wanted to know what in the hell all these droids did all day.

They were starting to pass by the beach. Poison made a mental note that there was no Zone 7 this far west of the zones. The water looked amazing, more than he’d ever seen before. It was all a strangely beautiful shade of green, though Sunshine said it used to be a deep blue according to records kept on the Loco.

Starless took him to one of the cars in front of the dining cars, she called them lounge cars, and let him open one of the windows to smell the air.

“It’s salt water, so it makes the air smell strange,” she said, pulling the window open.

The smell of the beach blew into the car and Poison was momentarily mesmerized by it. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. That was happening a lot recently, he thought.

“This is insane,” Poison muttered, watching the water wash onto the sand. “I never knew the zones were so…”

“Big?” Sunshine asked, skipping into the car.

“Beautiful.” Poison watched the water for a while longer. “How long will it be there? Or, how long will we be here?”

“A few days,” Shitty said, following Sunshine into the car with them. “The beach takes up a lot of the time we spend in the west.”

Poison wanted to watch the beach forever. The sound, too, was crazy to him. Even with the sound of the train flying down the tracks, the water was loud, crashing against rocks sometimes and roaring over the other noises around it. He closed the window.

“If you’ve had breakfast already,” Shitty said, adjusting her cloth dress. “I’d like to offer you clean clothes, if you’re alright with our fashion choices.”

“I appreciate it, but…” Poison had noticed before that every droid on the Loco wore similarly minimal clothing, all made of the same type of cloth.

“We can wash your clothes and you can just use ours as a placeholder,” Sunshine suggested with a smile. “Then, once yours are clean and dry you can change back into them.”

Poison looked down at his clothes. They were relatively clean, compared to most of the zones, but they definitely weren’t clean compared to the droids’ clothes on the train.

“I guess that would be fine,” Poison said.

“Great!” Sunshine said, hopping a little. “Come with me to the next car over, you can take a bath there and I’ll take your clothes to be washed!”

Poison was starting to feel weirder and weirder about being on the train and how the three women were treating him, but he wasn’t about to say no to what sounded like the promise of running water and soap.

And it turned out they had both. Sunshine left him in a stall made up of a shower head, a bathtub, a stack of towels, and a small basket full of soaps. The floor and walls were all tile. He was confused by the fact that there were specific soaps for your body and your hair, but he tried his best to use the right ones. He wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to get properly clean for once. Memories got drudged up, though, as he washed himself in the tub. Korse used to only use one soap for everything, so that must’ve been why Poison never knew there was more than one kind. Korse also used to prefer to wash Poison himself, usually taking limbs off to clean them separately and thoroughly. Poison shivered and scrubbed at his legs harder, pretending to scrub off the memories.

After he was sure he had used the right soap for his hair, he sat in the tub a while to just enjoy hot water. The semi-running water of the radio tower was always cold, despite the hot desert, which Poison thought was god playing a joke on them. The only hot water they had access to was the hot water that sometimes ran through the diner’s sinks. And you can’t wash your hair in a sink, the Killjoys have tried. Especially not Jet, his hair could hardly be washed in an actual shower.

“Party Poison?” Shitty called, knocking lightly on the stall door. “Silver Sunshine is taking your clothes to be washed, so I’ve brought the cloth for you to wear.”

“Okay,” Poison called back, getting out of the tub and wrapping himself in a towel.

“Do you know how to put it on, or would you like my help?” She asked, waiting for him to slide open the door.

“I think I need your help, I’ve never worn anything like it before.” Poison did slide the door open, stepping aside to let her in.

“That’s alright, as long as you’re comfortable with that.” She stepped into the room and Poison realized what she meant.

“Oh. Um.” Poison felt his face turn pink. “Could I maybe have my underwear though?”

“It’s being washed,” she said, pressing a button on the wall and sitting on a stool that came out from it. “I can make some for you, if that would make you more comfortable.”

“Uh… Yes. Please.”

Poison was surprised again when she instantly went to work on the cloth she had brought, ripping it easily and stapling it back together with her fingers.

“I used to be a receptionist,” she said, not looking up from her work. “I’ve got staplers, labels, highlighters, and all sorts of stuff in my hands. White out. Office stuff.”

“That’s- strange,” Poison said, still distracted by how fast she was making a pair of men’s underwear.

“It is,” she said, nodding. “You’d think they wouldn’t waste the computing power by taking up space with office supplies. But then I was repurposed to be a tailor, which made even less sense.”

She had finished, and held out to him what looked almost identical to the underwear he’d had on earlier.

“I know how to sew, but they never replaced the staplers and shit with sewing needles and thread. Anyhow, you can put these on and then I’ll wrap you in the cloth.”

She looked away while he did, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable. Then, he stood still with his arms slightly raised while she went to work wrapping him in the cloth. First she wrapped tightly, tying some parts to make sure they would stay on. Then, she wrapped him loosely, draping cloth around his shoulders and then tucking it back into a part on his back. When she was done, he looked like he lived on the Loco with everyone else, blending right in.

“There,” she said, admiring her work. “It looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” he said, shifting slightly. He was surprised at how sturdy the cloth actually was. It didn’t feel like it would fall off even if he ran in it and even was keeping him warm.

“You know, I should be honest with you,” she said suddenly, still looking over Poison’s new outfit. “This train is more than just a safe place for droids, though I wager you’ve figured that out already.”

“I had an idea…”

“We worship Destroya on the Loco. I’m sure you’ve heard of her within the city.”

“I have.”

“It would be rude if I didn’t tell the full truth to you. What you’re wearing is cloth cut from Destroya’s own robes.”

Poison’s eyes widened, despite not fully believing in Destroya as a sort of god.

“Her body rests in the sand somewhere deep in the zones,” she said, reaching to adjust a part of Poison’s neckline. “The cloth was stored on the train for unknown reasons, but there is more than enough to be cut into clothing for all her children. Its a sort of sacred rite to wear her cloth, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I… I guess it’s fine.” Though he did feel strange. “I’m sort of… Honored? I think?”

“That makes me happy,” she said, smiling at him. “But don’t worry, we’re more interesting than just a bunch of preachy praying droids. We do fun stuff, I promise.”

“Like what?”

* * *

“Yeah, I’ve been on the Loco,” the guy said, glaring at Lucky. “Why do you want to know?”

“Someone I know heard its name and he disappeared,” Lucky said. He’d searched all over the zones to try and find someone of the living that had been in contact with a droid who had been on the Loco. He couldn’t see droids in the zones, so he’d gotten creative. He managed to find one, strangely living with people in Lucky’s old home, the warehouse in Zone 5. “I just want to bring him back.”

“That’ll be a tough sell, man,” the guy said. He was leaned on the outside wall of the warehouse. When Lucky had come up to him just a while before, he had been repairing out outside. “But I’m not telling you anything about the Loco. They’re good people, I don’t want them in trouble with the likes of humans.”

With the way he glared at him, Lucky assumed this was the end of the line with him.

“Please, I just need a way to contact him if nothing else,” Lucky tried, trying to sound as desperate as possible.

The guy looked at him up and down, then said, “you got any keycards into the city?”

Lucky blinked. “You know what, you’re lucky I do,” he said, reaching into his pocket as three keycards materialized there. “Will you tell me how to contact him if I give you them?”

“Three?” The guy muttered as Lucky pulled them out, eyebrows raising. “Well, you can’t contact him on the train, they never use the radio so I doubt you’d be able to relay a message to them, let alone that it’s probably too far away to reach it anyway.”

Lucky was floored with how much more cooperative this guy was becoming.

“But, I’ll share this. The train passes through a mountain range to the north, really close to the Zone 7 boarder up there. It has to slow down a lot to weave around those corners, so it would be considerably easier to get on if you could somehow figure that out…” The guy tapped his chin teasingly. “But if I find out you hurt anyone on that train there’ll be hell to pay.”

“I promise I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want my friend back.” Lucky handed the guy the three keycards. “Here, take them. Thank you for the information.”

“No problem,” the guy said with a smile, pocketing the keycards. “But also, like I said, it’ll be a tough sell. The Loco has some pretty enticing passtimes.”

Lucky simply nodded to him and left. He’d heard that from Destroya herself, and he was not excited to find out what they both meant by that. But at least now he had a plan. Mountain range, north, train slows, jump on somehow. He’d use his powers if he had to.

* * *

They drove with the radio off. They waited a whole day to see if Show Pony and Jet could come up with a better plan, and when that didn’t happen they went along with their own plan. Kobra drove fast along the highway. They’d already turned toward the city, heading for the area where the highway split in two.

They hadn’t changed their plan very much, they were pretty sure they’d have to wing it on actually getting on the train but they had a sort of blind confidence that they’d find a way. They’d never been in the northern parts of Zone 6, so they had no idea what to expect. One thing Kobra pointed out was that there was at least a handful of mountains that you could see from the Zone 4 gas station and from the Cannery in Zone 5, which meant that if the train went through there it would have to slow down. Ghoul felt cautiously optimistic about that, though he wasn’t sure how they’d climb a fucking mountain.

As they slowly passed the city, watching the usual amount of smoke billow out of its guts, Ghoul thought about why they hadn’t come after him for rearranging Korse’s face a while back. But then again, he thought, going after one zoner was a waste of time and resources, especially when it was someone like Ghoul, someone who was not easy to kill thanks to his DNA. However much She hated him, She wouldn’t waste Her time on him, not again. She’d already made that mistake.

Kobra checked their stolen tracker, swiped off of Show Pony’s bedside table that morning. That was an ordeal in itself because trying to sneak into Show Pony’s room took an insane amount of patience. You couldn’t move faster than a fraction of an inch at a time, or else you risked waking them up. Show Pony was the lightest sleeper of the Killjoys, even breathing too loud could alert them to someone’s presence. Kobra was well trained in the art of “move so slow it doesn’t look like you’re moving” and Ghoul was thoroughly impressed when he returned with the train’s tracker. Said tracker showed them that the train was still far west, and probably would be for a long-ass time. They’d have plenty of time to figure out a way to get onto the train, and also to call in to Show Pony that the car needed picked up.

Despite the fact that it was daytime, with noon approaching, the city still glowed it’s disgusting purple. Long changed from green back to purple after Ghoul’s breakout. Ghoul had no idea how She’d explained away that situation, but it wasn’t really their business anymore.

“How long till we cross into Zone 6?” Ghoul asked, still staring at the city.

“By tonight, I think.” Kobra had already taken the exit to the west so now all they had to do was drive until they hit train tracks. “Cutting through the zones is way faster than going all the way around them.”

“Yeah…” Ghoul readjusted himself in his seat. The new trans am felt strange when he’d first sat in it, and after a while Ghoul realized it was because it didn’t have their personal touches anymore. Kobra’s sticky notes to himself on the ceiling were gone, Jet’s stash of snacks in the glove box was gone, Poison’s backup batteries stashed in the floor compartments were gone, Ghoul’s old patches from his jacket that fell off and that he’d sewn to the backseat were gone. And oh shit, Poison’s backup batteries were gone. They would have to rectify that situation at some point. Ghoul took Kobra’s new stack of sticky notes out of the middle console and wrote down “P’s batteries” and stuck it right over his head.

“Oh shit,” Kobra said, glancing at the note. “I totally forgot about those.”

“Me too.”

* * *

The Destroya Run, the women had explained, was something they did every time they reached the beach. It was a sacred activity, droids only, but it was much more fun than any kind of religious bullshit. They would slow the Loco down manually, everyone would jump off, and then they would run the approximate distance Destroya herself walked outside the city before being taken down. When Poison said it didn’t sound very fun at all, Shitty Teen held up a finger at him.

“It’s fun, I promise,” she said, motioning for him to follow her to the back of the train.

They went all the way back to the train car Poison had first woken up in. She walked over the a stack of crates in the corner of the dark car and pried one open.

“In here, we hold the things we use for the Destroya Run.” Shitty Teen picked something up and then held it out to Poison.

The can in her hand read “Battery Acid” which was a popular energy drink in Bat City.

“We mix that,” she said, pulling out another can, this one clearly a zoner-made drink, “with this.”

This new can read “Go Juice” on the side, scrawled in permanent marker over whatever brand of soda they’d used the cans for.

“And then we run.”

Poison took both cans, staring at them.

“You mix two types of energy drink and then run down the beach?” Poison turned the cans over, not sure what he was checking for.

“Yes. It’s fun, I promise,” Shitty said, taking the cans back. “It starts tonight, so I’ll be up in the front of the train manually slowing us down. But Silver Sunshine wants you to join everyone else when they get ready.”

“Why?”

“There’s a dress code,” she said with a smile. “Even more so than Destroya’s robes.”

“Which is?”

“Color.”

* * *

Lucky went back to the radio tower to see how the Killjoys were doing. He’d felt some chaos that morning and wanted to make sure everyone was okay. When he went looking, he found Ghoul and Kobra in their new trans am on their way north, which was more confusing than anything else.

The radio tower itself was untouched from its usual state, but when Lucky started walking up Show Pony ran out to meet him.

“Lucky!” They shouted. They seemed frantic, frazzled, but most of all furious. “Have you seen Fun Ghoul and Kobra Kid?!”

“Uh, no,” Lucky said, freezing for a moment. “Did something happen?”

“Yes! They stole the fucking car and the tracker!” Show Pony stomped back inside. Lucky followed them, shutting the door behind them. “We were tracking the train and they took the goddamn thing!”

“Okay, well, do we know where they went?” Lucky had no excuse as to how on earth he could know they were heading north and he felt awful that he couldn’t just tell them.

“No! They just stole the car and drove off!” They kicked a random box lying around the living area, knocking it on its side and spilling empty CD cases everywhere. “When they get back, I’m going to-!”

“Show Pony, I need you to calm down,” Dr. Death said, rolling out from the bathroom. “I’ve got me a splitting headache that I’d prefer wasn’t added to.”

Show Pony shut up but crossed their arms and pouted strongly, clearly still fuming.

“Lucky Charm, just the man I wanted to see,” Dr. D said, smiling despite his headache.

“What?” Lucky stared at him.

“I’ve gotta talk to you, if you will.” Dr. D waved for him to follow as he turned around and went toward the studio room.

Lucky followed him into the room, shutting the door behind him and feeling increasingly less comfortable with the situation. Dr. Death stopped at his desk and then spun himself around, motioning for Lucky to sit in a chair opposite him. As Lucky pulled one of the few chairs in he studio up, he felt worry stab at his chest. What was this about? Why was it so formal? Why was Lucky afraid?

“Lucky Charm,” Dr. Death said with a sigh. “I think its time we had a talk.”

“About?” Lucky asked, his voice weirdly strained.

“I know something most people shouldn’t. About you. About what you are.”

Lucky’s eyes widened despite himself.

“And I’m sure you’re wondering how I figured it out, and well… I know your boss.”

“Can you please be m-more specific?” Lucky decided to try and play dumb, hoping he was either misunderstanding the situation or that he could fake his way out of this situation.

“The Phoenix Witch.” Dr. D leaned forward in his wheelchair. “I know her personally.”

Lucky stared at him, unsure of how to act. He could try laughing, but that might get him a kick in the ass from both Dr. Death and the Phoenix Witch. He could insist he’s not what he is, thought that could incite the same outcome.

“Here, I’ll prove it to you,” Dr. Death said leaning back in his chair, relaxing again. “Ask me something only someone who knows her personally would know.”

Well, shit. Lucky had to make his choice now.

“What’s her favorite board game?” Lucky asked, feeling the hair on the back of his neck prickle.

“Easy, Sorry,” Dr. Death said. “But the Disney version, and her favorite character to play as is Buzz Lightyear.”

“Holy shit,” Lucky muttered, eyes widening. “How in the hell-”

“Not important right now, kid,” Dr. D laughed. “But what is important is that you know that I’m not a bad person, and that I’m not trying to do any bad things here. I’m friends with the Phoenix Witch because she brought me back from death and I’m repaying that debt in game nights every month. What I have to ask from you, though, is if you can trust me enough to help me today.”

“With what? If the Phoenix Witch trusts you, I have no reason not to.” Lucky straightened in his chair.

“Thank you, Lucky. I need you to follow the boys, make sure they’re okay and that they get home safe. I know you can see where they are, and I can guess where they’re headed. All I’m asking is that you follow them and keep them from killing themselves. The mountains are dangerous.”

“I can do that,” Lucky said, letting some of his anxiety wash away for now. He’d have to talk to the Phoenix Witch later about this. “I promise to keep them alive, if nothing else.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you, Lucky Charm.” Dr. D sighed, looking more relaxed now. “Hey, my headache’s goin’ away.”

“That’s lucky, isn’t it?” Lucky said, wiping away what remained of his headache.

“Don’t go wasting that on me,” Dr. D chuckled.

Lucky stood from his chair and gave Dr. Death a hug goodbye, then left the radio tower. He didn’t need a vehicle, but he did make sure to walk far enough that he wouldn’t be in view of them before bending space to get north faster. He could still see Kobra and Ghoul driving on the highway, so he got himself as far as the mountains and then kept walking. They would get there by nighttime if they stayed that speed, and Lucky could watch them as long as he wanted to make sure they didn’t run in to trouble. He really just hoped that whatever Destroya and that droid had said was enticing about the train wasn’t enough to keep Party Poison from wanting to come home.

* * *

By the time they finally were driving through mountain roads it was night. Kobra and Ghoul had switched seats so that Kobra could take a fucking nap. Ghoul swore he didn’t remember the drive being that long, but then again they’ve never driven all the way to the mountains before.

As Ghoul drove he kept getting lost in his thoughts. How many times would their family get split up before the universe decided they’d been messed with enough? Was it some vengeful god’s game? How many ways can I split up these little losers?

Ghoul almost didn’t even register rolling over the train tracks. There had been a fairly open stretch of the road that was mostly straight, and he barely realized he was driving over train tracks at first.

“Kobra, wake up,” Ghoul said, stopping the car on the other side of the tracks. “We found them.”

They took note of where the tracks were on their map, scribbling in what they could see of them on the little mountains they drew. Around the tracks were mostly hills, but on top of one of the hills was a half-standing shack of some sort. They figured that would be the best place to stay for the time being, if only because it was the first place they found and they were both dead tired.

Ghoul carefully drove the car as close to the hill as he could, then they both got out to check the shack out. The inside was gutted, old rotting furniture and destroyed appliances laying around.

“This place is a piece of shit,” Kobra groaned.

“Yeah,” Ghoul sighed. “Wanna just sleep in the car for now?”

“Definitely.”

* * *

Sunshine had put out the rainbow assortment of tubs of pigment powder. She and a bunch of the other droids gathered together to help him get ready for the Destroya Run, tying his clothes tighter and showing him how to dye the cloth with the powder. They’d gathered in the first dining car, the one mostly covered in color already.

Shitty had gone to the front of the train, setting their speed to nearly half of what it normally was. It would take time for it to slow down, just enough time for them to get ready to run. First they would slow down to half speed, then they would color their clothes, then they would drink the mixture of drinks, then they would run for an entire day and night. While it was a sort of religious activity, it was mostly just exhilarating. At some point along the beach the water came up almost touching the train tracks at high tide.

That made the run even more interesting and fun, running through water in the dead of night.

Poison dipped his fingers into the glass of water Sunshine held out for him, then gently pressed them into the red powder. The pigment mixed and turned into a paste on his fingers. He pressed them, like he was shown, into the cloth and pulling them down, smearing the vibrant color along it.

“That’s perfect!” Sunshine smiled at him. “Choose any colors you like! And use as many as possible!”

Poison did, taking a little bit of every color, though sticking mostly to red, blue, and yellow. He was predictable in the colors he liked, it was why he wore them on his normal clothes. He didn’t actually realize that until he finished putting pigment on these clothes.

“Okay,” Starless said, pushing the pigment tubs out of the way and sitting across from him on the ground. “Now, we decorate our skin.”

Poison sat dutifully still as she took out smaller tubs of paint and carefully painted on little designs all over his face. Small lines around his eyelids, little stars along his cheekbones, and a framing of lace along his hairline. He stared in awe in the mirror for a while after she was done.

“Do you want any on your arms?” She asked.

“Sure,” he said, happily holding out his arms for her to paint.

Sunshine stood, smiling at them. She walked to the back of the car, moving through the cars toward the cargo car with the energy drinks. It would be time soon to drink and run. She could feel the train slowing down, so it was a matter of time before they would have to start.

Shitty moved from the front of the train to meet Poison and the others in the dining car, starting her own process of putting on her colors.

They all worked together to put pigment and paint on each other, and eventually they all looked ready to run.

“Alright, everyone,” Shitty said, standing up and clapping her hands. “Let’s all move to the back of the train to drink, then we can start the run.”

Everyone excitedly followed, Poison still feeling unsure about the whole thing but following too. Shitty pulled cans from the crate she had opened before, tossing pairs of cans to each droid. As Poison caught his, he watched the others chug them one after another.

“You all ready to honor our fallen mother?” Shitty called to the crowd, her voice artificially amplified.

The crowd of droids cheered and started back toward the lounge car.

“Party Poison?” Shitty said gently, her voice back to normal. “Won’t you drink with us?”

Poison looked at the cans in his hands. “I guess I will.”

He took a drink from the Battery Acid first, the carbonated drink burning his throat as he chugged while Shitty and Sunshine drank their own. His head started to spin as he pulled the tab on the Go Juice. When he opened this can, the liquid inside was a vibrant and glowing electric pink. He laughed to himself. Electric pink.

Once he finished that can and Sunshine and Shitty had too, they all went to join the others. Poison felt his heartbeat kicking up already.

Shitty stood at the door, pulling the latch and letting the door swing open. The wind crashed through the train, whipping around the color-covered droids.

“You ready?” She called. The crowd cheered. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

* * *

“You are taking too long,” Destroya’s voice boomed, crashing through Lucky’s head like a runaway train. Lucky jumped, his eyes shooting open as he fell out of bed. “Party Poison has taken part in my children’s Run. The task will be harder now.”

“What?” Lucky said to the dark empty room. He had found a mostly intact abandoned house not far from the tracks to sleep in. Not far from where Ghoul and Kobra were sleeping in their car, either.

“You were supposed to keep him from drinking the Go Juice, but you are too late.” Destroya had never sounded so disappointed. “Perhaps I should have taken matters into my own hands.”

“Hey, just because it’ll be harder doesn’t mean it’ll be impossible,” Lucky said, getting up and rubbing his eyes. “I didn’t- I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you meant to stop him immediately.”

“Of course, you are just like her,” Destroya sighed in her metallic voice. “The Phoenix Witch does this too. ‘Do this’ I ask, and she waits. As if I had said ‘do this in two days’ instead of immediately.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucky said again, yawning. “Do you want me to go right now?”

“No. Rest. You will need it when the train passes through. How do you plan to board?”

“I- I hadn’t thought about it. The train won’t be here for a couple days, so…”

“Well, think about it,” Destroya said sharply, leaving him then.

Lucky sat down on the edge of the bed, sighing and slumping over. It was the middle of the night, had she really thought he was going to do it right away? She should’ve made it more clear that whatever thing he was drinking was tonight and not in a few days. Though he supposed assuming he had days of time was a bit presumptuous. As he laid back down he started thinking about how he was going to get on the train. It was too dangerous to use his power when the train was full of people that would see him use it. It was also too dangerous to just jump on the damn thing when it would still be going quite fast around the mountain range’s twists and turns. In all, he figured he could think about it tomorrow.

* * *

Brilliant bright light, pinpricks of gorgeous beauty distilled into the glitter that covered the night sky. Reflected on the ocean water as it washed up near the tracks. Beating hearts all kicking the same drum. Panting breath that served to scream their unity. Color blurred against the darkness of the night, washed by the water and mixed with their sweat.

Poison had never experienced something so profound. Something this meaningful. Something so utterly exhilarating. Driving fast used to be his drug of choice, but he found himself smiling ear to ear from whatever the Battery Acid and Go Juice mixture was doing to his brain. So much more… Fun.

He felt manic in the best way possible. He leapt over the rocks littered on the beach, laughing with a friend as he accidentally hit them on his way. They ran together until he found a burst of energy and ran ahead. He had no idea who they were. He ran and kept running, arms pumping, legs tingling, head spinning, but he felt good. Everything was brighter, more vibrant even in the dark, it felt fresh and new and like nothing the zones could give. It was totally unique, totally liberating.

Totally addictive.

It felt like cool water through his veins, blooming in his chest and blossoming through his body. It felt like hot fire burning him from the inside out. It felt like smoke burning his eyes. It felt like sand on his bare feet, kicked up behind him, stuck between his toes. It felt like everything. And he wanted more. More sensation that he used to be so desperately starved for, more colors he felt he’d never seen before, more flavors of freedom, more meaning to his life, more, more, more.

He saw Shitty, Sunshine, and Starless near the front of the mass of droids. They looked behind at him as he got closer. They were smiling, eyes as wide as his own. They watched with what looked like pride as he ran ahead of them, now leading the Run. He felt like he was fulfilling something long predestined to happen. The droids behind him cheered en masse. He was doing something he was meant to do. He had no idea what, but he knew one thing about it.

It felt glorious.

* * *

Ghoul woke to the sound of Kobra snoring. He didn’t snore often, but if he was it was probably because he was sleeping in a weird position. Ghoul remembered they were sleeping in the car, so that checked out. The sun had just started to rise, but the hills and mountains around them cast a cool shade over them.

Ghoul’d dreamed last night about a beach, which was a word he hadn’t thought he’d known before that dream. But apparently it was a huge body of water up against sand. It had been a huge beach, the water rushing up and pooling around his ankles before receding back and bubbling up to wash toward him again. He’d had no idea where he was, but it was beautiful. It was possible it was a shared dream with Poison or something but it felt too random for that. He had been alone, standing on an empty beach. He’d think about it later.

“Kid,” Ghoul grumbled, sitting up and shoving at Kobra’s arm. “Need food.”

“Trunk,” Kobra mumbled, still half asleep.

Ghoul fumbled out of the car and stretched. It was cramped in there, but roomier than the old trans am had been. As he walked around to the trunk of the car, Ghoul looked around at where they were. Last night he hadn’t gotten a good look at it because it had been so dark.

There were small hills around the train tracks, ones that seemed to grow as they rolled until there was a small mountain nearby. Larger mountains loomed behind that small one to the north. The uneven ground had seemed to be carved out for the road they’d driven on and the train tracks too. It wasn’t green out here, unfortunately. There were a few plants here and there, ones that were well shaded from the relentless sunshine. Other areas that got more sun were just as barren as the rest of the zones. Ghoul absently wondered if this was even in the zones.

He tore open a bag of cereal, dumping it into his mouth and shutting the trunk. They would have to talk about a plan to get on the train at some point. Thinking about it, the train would have to slow down quite a bit going through the twists that seemed to weave through the hills and small mountains ahead of them to the east. How much it would slow down was the unknown. The new trans am wasn’t as fast as their last yet, but it would also have to go slow to follow the train. They needed some way to get on without having to risk crashing the car, too. Again, they’d have to talk about it.

Kobra eventually got out of the car, stretching and yawning. They shared cereal in silence as the sun slowly rose on the other side of the mountains.

“Any ideas about how we’re gonna get on board?” Ghoul asked.

“Only a couple,” Kobra said, shoving more cereal into his mouth. “We could drive alongside it but either one of us stays with the car or we risk crashing the damn thing.”

Ghoul nodded.

“Or, we find a corner and hopefully a tall building or a ledge and we jump on as it goes by.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Ghoul took the cereal back. “Let’s scout the area for a sharp corner, there has to be one somewhere.”

“Anything to keep us from having to get a new car again,” Kobra sighed, resting his hand on the hood of the car. “It’s stupid but I miss that car every day.”

“It’s not stupid, she was family,” Ghoul said, patting Kobra’s shoulder. “It’s my fault we lost her anyway.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Kobra scolded. “You had no other choice.”

“I guess…”

“You still saved the kids.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s what matters most.”

“I know.”

Kobra watched him for a while, scanning his face. Then he sighed and looked back at the car.

“Show Pony is going to kill us when we get back,” Ghoul said after a beat of silence.

“Oh definitely,” Kobra chuckled. “I fully expect to be locked in a room when this is over.”

“That seems optimistic,” Ghoul laughed. “I was thinking kept in a box or a cage.”

“Well, you’re a kinky motherfucker, so I’m not surprised.”

“Oh my god,” Ghoul slammed his face onto the top of the car. “It’s not a kink thing.”

“Sure, dude,” Kobra laughed.

They laughed and ate more cereal together until they decided it was time to find a good sharp corner to set up camp near.

They couldn’t see it, but Lucky was standing on the small mountain nearby, watching them and listening in on them. A sharp corner was a very good idea. Lucky would have to work hard to not be seen by them or too many questions would be raised. All he had to do was follow them. If he played his cards right he wouldn’t even have to intervene and he could just help them out with his power. Hopefully Poison’s brother and boyfriend would be enough to convince him to leave the train.

* * *

The soft rumble of the train roused Poison from his sleep. He blinked and looked around, not remembering how he’d gotten back on the train. He was in the sleeping car, and it was full of the other droids. Quietly he got up and started doing a head count just in case. After peaking into the other sleeping car he was glad to find that everyone had made it back. He was the only one awake, too.

He slowly and quietly made his way to the car with the showers and set a bath up for himself. He must’ve fallen asleep in the tub because he was startled awake by a knock on the stall door.

“Party Poison?” Starless called quietly through the door.

“Yes?” Poison said, clearing his throat.

“Oh, good. I was wondering where you went, sorry.” She sounded tired. “Shitty Teen is going to get everyone up soon to eat, but take your time. The day after a Run is always sluggish.”

“Okay, thank you for telling me.” Poison found himself with his eyes closed and blinked. “Is it normal to be this tired?”

“Yes.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “The drinks bring you up and up and up, and then you crash back down pretty hard. Your eyes might stay that color a while, too.”

“What?” Poison stared at the door.

“It’s just a side affect of the Go Juice, it’ll go away in a few days.”

“Oh, uh, okay. Good to know…” Poison looked around for any mirror, finding a small handheld one sitting near the tub. As he grabbed it and looked at himself he almost dropped it. His eyes were a bright, vibrant, glowing electric pink.

“I didn’t want you to freak out about it if you hadn’t seen them yet,” she yawned. “Anyhow, see you at breakfast.”

“Yeah, see you…” Poison stared at his eyes in the mirror. So strange. He couldn’t fully remember the Run, just the feeling of knowing so much about the universe and his place in it. Weird.

He sat in the tub a while, slowly washing up before just sitting in the water again. He stared at the wall. Curiously, he reached out and tapped the wall twice. He’d seen Shitty do a few things by just tapping on them, so he wondered if this would work…

And it did. The wall faded slightly, then slid open to reveal a reinforced window to the outside. They were still alongside the beach.

Poison watched the beach go by, transfixed. He remembered the beauty of the stars against the water, the smell of the ocean sticking to everything, the rush of the water around his feet, the sharp jagged edges of the rocks they’d jumped over and around. He had felt so incredibly alive. Now he felt… Empty. Like he was missing a piece of himself.

Eventually he came back to himself, closing the window and getting out of the bath.

He wanted more Go Juice.

* * *

Days had passed and Kobra and Ghoul had finally found a suitable corner after driving along the tracks for a while. The tracker told them the train was fast approaching, though it would be much slower now that they were along a sharp turn. They had their plan ready to go: radio to Show Pony where the car was, wait for the perfect moment, jump toward the direction the train was headed (that was something to do with physics, Kobra had said), and then hold on for dear life and find a way inside. Shouldn’t be too hard, though Ghoul wished Lucky was around to give them an extra boost just in case. At this point, they could see the train weaving through the mountains.

As the train got closer Ghoul found himself picking at his nails. This was stressful, how were they doing this again? Jump, pray, grab, pray again. He just hoped if he died the Phoenix Witch would understand why he’d killed himself that way. Did it count as killing yourself? He was making the conscious choice to jump onto a huge moving object, so he thought it just barely fit into that category.

“Get ready,” Kobra said, snapping Ghoul out of his thoughts.

“Oh shit,” Ghoul muttered, rolling his shoulders.

The train had gotten close enough now that Kobra and Ghoul had started running to gain some speed before jumping, and that was the moment Lucky stared intently at them both and spoke fast.

“It’s lucky they both make it inside the train with minimal injuries.”

Lucky felt the universe bend to his will, and apparently getting Ghoul and Kobra onto a moving train was a big ask because the universe really had to shift. The wind blew, the sun glitched itself back an inch, and the train was held in limbo for a fraction of a second, giving Kobra and Ghoul the perfect window to land directly in the middle of a train car and conveniently next to a maintenance hatch. The original plan was to also jump onto the train, but seeing how much strain he’d put on reality Lucky just decided to just bend reality the cheater way and get himself inside the cargo car.

On top of the train to Kobra and Ghoul, it seemed like they jumped, blacked out a little from the adrenaline, then crawled carefully to the hatch they were near and got inside the train.

“Holy shit!” Ghoul said, still reeling from jumping onto a fucking moving train.

“S-stay quiet, just in case,” Kobra said, visibly shaken as well. “Let’s find out where we are and then make a plan.”

Lucky found himself surrounded by cases of energy drinks, which he expected from the information Destroya had given him. He didn’t expect to find Party Poison there, though. And now they were face to face. And he had just bent reality. Right in front of him. Damn Lucky’s powers not being able to sense where droids were.

“Lucky?” Poison said, tilting his head to the side. “What the hell did you just-”

“Sure is lucky you malfunctioned just now,” Lucky spat quickly, frantically trying to fix the situation.

Poison stared, then moved like he’d been punched in the jaw. His head spun to the right and he became rigid.

“Oh shit,” Lucky cursed quietly. “What’d I do…”

He crept around so that he was hidden from view and waited for Kobra and Ghoul to make their way here in the maintenance ducts.

In said ducts, Kobra was leading Ghoul to the back of the train so they could hang out in the cargo car to regroup.

“Party Poison?!” someone shouted, coming into the car and seeing a rigid and frantic Poison reaching out to them. “What happened?!”

Lucky watched the woman snap his neck back into place and free him of whatever lock had engaged.

“I don’t know, I thought I saw someone,” Poison said, looking around. “It was weird, but it must’ve been a malfunction…”

“Did you hear that noise earlier? That thump?” the woman asked, taking him out of the room.

Just then, Kobra and Ghoul dropped out of the maintenance vents into the car.

“Okay, let’s figure this out,” Kobra said quietly, sitting on one of the crates.

“Fuck, we don’t know anything about this train,” Ghoul groaned, immediately pacing the room. “Do we even know where he is?”

“Well, no, but we have to play it cool right now.” Kobra had started feeling motion sick from being in the vents and was hoping that feeling would fuck off. “I take it slow, we’re going to have to be on this train for a while anyway.”

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Ghoul muttered. “What if it’s dangerous?”

“Then we fucking deal with it!” Kobra almost shouted, but kept his voice low. “I need you to calm the fuck down because if you start freaking out I’m going to start freaking out, and one of us needs to stay cool, okay? We just have to find Poison and get him off the train, simple.”

Ghoul nodded, trying to slow his breathing.

Lucky wished it would be that easy.

* * *

The residents of the Loco were all mildly concerned about the thumping that had happened earlier. Shitty assured them that it was probably just rocks, but the creaking in the vents above them all had them worried. Starless set about keeping everyone calm while Sunshine and Shitty went to the front of the train to check the systems for anything strange. Poison was left to investigate.

When he went to the cargo car he thought he’d seen something. But he’d malfunctioned for some reason, and wasn’t sure anymore. Now he was checking the rest of the train for anything weird or out of place. He felt uneasy, like he’d seen something he shouldn’t have.

Since the Run, he’d been drinking Go Juice more and more often. Sometimes the droids on the Loco would have a drink of either Battery Acid or Go Juice, so he felt okay about drinking it sometimes too. And sure, maybe he was drinking more than they were, but he could stop if he wanted. In fact, he had started to scale back on it. He went from two cans a day to one, so it was fine. He felt more tired and thought maybe his processors were running slower, but he was fine. It was fine. He had been on his way to get his can for the day when that weird sound had interrupted him. Well, when it had interrupted the whole train.

Things had been going well the last few days. The mountains weren’t as beautiful as the beach, in Poison’s opinion, but they were still a scenery that he’d never seen before. Not this close, at least. The nights were his favorite, the sky cut through with the winding patterns of the mountains. The daytime was strange, because they were mostly in the shade and that was a new state of being for a zoner. The sun was your worst enemy, but also your friend in that it never left you. Now, in the mountains, there was shade. Poison wondered why people didn’t live out here.

Though, maybe they did and that was the noise they heard. As he thought of this, he heard something coming from the cargo car he’d just left. Maybe he had seen something in there.

* * *

“We have to just go for it, right?” Ghoul asked. He’d calmed down a lot, working through the issues they were facing with Kobra. “We have to run through the train until we find him, then get off any way we can find?”

“I mean, considering we’re still in the mountains going pretty slow, that seems like the best idea. Who knows what state he’s in and how hard it’ll actually be to get off the train, but that feels like what we need to do.” Kobra was pacing now. They’d switched places, Ghoul sat on a crate and Kobra pacing in front of him. “If we can get him off the train while we’re still close-ish to the car then we don’t have to call it in to Show Pony and we can potentially evade that punishment.”

“True,” Ghoul nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, then let’s go, yeah? Through that door and go until we find him?”

“I mean, draw your blaster just in case,” Kobra said, pulling his own out of its holster. “But yeah.”

Ghoul hopped off of the crate he’d been sitting on, knocking a smaller one off with him. They both froze as a dozen cans rolled out of the toppled crate, making a ton of noise. Hearing footsteps coming toward them, they both stepped away from the door and held their blasters at the ready.

* * *

The door slid open, and all three of them froze. Ghoul felt his heart jump, Kobra’s jaw dropped, and Poison scared himself with how long it took him to remember the two people standing in front of him. To Kobra and Ghoul, Poison was himself, but a totally different person. He was wearing strange clothes, like they were all one piece just wrapped around him.

“Poison?” Ghoul said, his voice strained with emotion.

“Ghoul?” Poison sounded confused.

“Whoa, you sound like shit,” Kobra blurted out. He did, Poison sounded like he was running dangerously low on power.

“What?” Poison blinked and looked at him.

“You’re okay!” Ghoul shouted, running and hugging him.

“I-I am,” Poison said slowly. Did he sound like shit?

“P, let’s go, we have to get off this train before we get too far from the car,” Kobra said, snapping out of it and getting back to business. With the added concern of Poison’s power levels it was becoming more urgent to get off this train ASAP.

“Get off?” Poison stared at him. “I’m not getting off this train.”

“What?” Ghoul pulled back from their hug and stared at him. That’s when he noticed his eyes. They were bright pink.

Ghoul stepped back from him, startled.

“P, we have to-” Kobra tried again, but was interrupted.

“I’m not leaving.” Poison sounded angry now. He reached to his left and grabbed a can of some bootleg zoner energy drink and cracked it open. It was a bright electric green. He scoffed and tossed it aside, opening another and another until he found a pink one and took a sip. “I live here now. But you two have to leave.”

“Par-” Ghoul reached out to him, his hand being swatted harshly by the redhead.

“Get off the train before they find you here. This is a droid-only ride. You’re not droids, so you’ll get kicked off anyway, but they might not be okay with just letting you go.” Poison was somewhat chugging the can he’d picked up, each time his eyes getting brighter and his motor functions getting faster and more responsive. “I belong here. Go away.”

Ghoul recoiled like he’d been slapped. Kobra was becoming increasingly aware of the urgency of getting Poison off this train. He had remembered Ghoul’s note he’d made in the car. They needed backup batteries for Poison, and they didn’t have them anymore. He was clearly in need of a new one and whatever energy drink they had on here was a stand-in for it. If they made him leave the train like this, he’d be on a strict time limit to get a new battery from the city. If they left him, they might have to wait a month or two to get back on the train and who knew if it would be as easy as it was this time. Things were not working out, and they really needed to.

“Party,” Ghoul said slowly, his expression slowly turning from hurt to anger. “You’re leaving this train today.”

“No I’m fucking not, but you two ar-”

“Shut up!” Ghoul shouted. “I didn’t just spend a week living in the car, sleeping next to your brother, eating cereal for every meal, then jump onto a fucking moving train just for you to tell me you’re not coming home!”

“This is my home!” Poison shouted back, getting up in his face. “You want me to leave? Fine! Give me one good reason why I should go back to the shitholes we live in!”

“Me!” Ghoul sobbed suddenly. “I’m your one good reason! I thought we- I- I can’t believe you! What happened?! What did they do to you?!”

“Nothing!” Poison seemed taken aback but still in the mood to argue, as he is tend to do.

“Then why are you acting like this?! What, this place has running water, they have good food and addictive soda or whatever the fuck?! Who cares! What about your fucking family?!” There were tears streaming down his face. “I thought we were a fucking family!”

“I-”

“No! Don’t say anything! You wanna stay? Fine! But just know you’re burning the only fucking bridge that mattered!” Ghoul spun around and kicked a stray crate, furiously wiping his face.

Kobra, stuck in the middle of this argument, held up his hands to each of them. “I think we need to all calm down and talk about this. Clearly this isn’t the situation we thought it was, and we need to regroup a little.”

Poison looked conflicted, and Ghoul wasn’t looking at either of them. He was staring at a corner of the car, looking confused as hell.

“Ghoul?” Kobra called.

“Lucky?” Ghoul said suddenly.

* * *

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Lucky said, hugging his elbows and shrinking in on himself. They had been interrupted by another droid who was living on the train and Poison insisted they moved to the lounge car. On the way, Ghoul and Kobra saw why Poison wasn’t leaving. Running water, BLI tech, fast and well-made synthetic food, and comfortable beds. It was heaven. In the lounge car, they’d all sat down to more or less interrogate Lucky on why and how the hell he was on the train. Lucky had decided it wasn’t worth it to come up with a lie or try to used his powers to get out of it. His time was up, he couldn’t hide it anymore. The Phoenix Witch would have to deal. “I’ve been… Sort of lying to you?”

“How?” Ghoul asked tiredly, his face still tear-stained.

“Well, you know how we first met?” Lucky turned to face Ghoul.

“Yeah? I fell out of the sky and you saved me from the wreck.” Ghoul raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And, that’s not the whole story.” Lucky sighed. “I saved you before that.”

Ghoul looked confused.

“Like, I decided you survived that crash.” Lucky tried to word it better. “My little base down there? The shack and the garden and stuff?”

The three Killjoys nodded slowly.

“It didn’t exist until Ghoul had just driven off the cliff.”

Their jaws all dropped.

“You’re like a-” Ghoul started, raising a pointed finger.

“You’re a zone-” Kobra stuttered.

“A protector?” Poison finished, eyes widening.

“Yes.”

“Holy shit!” Ghoul stood up. “I knew it! I fucking knew it! ‘Lucky’ my ass, I fucking knew it!”

“Yeah, okay, I get it. I wasn’t subtle.” Lucky rolled his eyes. “But I mean what else was I supposed to say? Yeah, all this convenient stuff is just down here in the uninhabitable wastes?”

“That is, in essence, what you said,” Poison pointed out quietly.

“And you all believed me,” Lucky countered.

“Okay, wait, then- have you been following us?” Kobra asked, eyes narrowing.

“Yes, and that’s the next part of this little meeting.” Lucky shifted and leaned forward in his seat, facing Poison. “You need to get off the train.”

“Why?” Poison asked dumbly, weired out by the turn of events.

“Because, Destroya said so.”

“Destroya?” Poison echoed, looking amazed suddenly.

“Like the robot?” Ghoul whispered to Kobra, confused.

“Yes. She told me that while the train is where you’re safest, you can’t live on it. There are some things here that aren’t good for you, and I’ve just gotten an urgent message from her that you’re a ticking time-bomb.”

“What?!” Poison shouted, standing up. “What did she say?!”

“She said your battery is running dangerously low,” Lucky said, standing slowly. “Don’t worry though, we got here in time. And actually, those drinks you’ve been having have been keeping a charge running through you for a while now.”

“She can talk to Lucky?” Ghoul whispered to Kobra.

“I guess, maybe she’s a protector?” Kobra whispered back.

“Fuck, I can’t believe I forgot about my fucking battery,” Poison said, his breathing suddenly shallow. “I- oh my god, I can’t believe I let myself get so- sidetracked! What the fuck am I doing here?!”

“Fulfilling a promise,” someone said from the doorway. When they all looked, Poison saw it was Shitty Teen. “A long time ago, Destroya left us a message that we would be visited by a very special droid. One that, with the help of the Battery Acid and Go Juice mixture, would be able to think and feel so much more like a human. With that, he would be able to find a way to break the bonds of technology and allow droids to be truly free to think and feel like that of organic beings.”

“I never said such a thing,” a voice boomed through the room. Everyone in the room instantly knew it was Destroya without having to have an introduction. “That message seems to have gotten misconstrued. What I said was this: one day, my son will join you all on the train. He will be given the enlightenment of the Battery Acid and Go Juice mixture, and use it to sever the final bonds that hold every droid in the city’s hand. It’s a quite literal message.”

“Holy shit,” Ghoul whispered.

“What the fuck,” Kobra whispered back.

“But-!” Shitty was starstruck, but confused.

“But nothing. I love each and every one of you, and I hope you never change your ways on this train as you are my most beloved group of followers. But you must let him go. It is a part of his journey to leave, and he must not waste another day. His battery could die and then the world’s course would be forever changed for the worse.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Poison said, falling back into his chair. “Slow down, you’re making my head spin.”

“Get off the train now, please,” Destroya said gently. “I care for you more than you realize. Even thought you did not believe in me, I believe in you so much more than you could imagine. You are essential to the future of everything you love. Don’t go abandoning your life, your family, your love, just for a little bit of an electric high.”

Poison stared at the empty can in his hand. How had he gotten so lost? So wrapped up in the goings-on of the train that he’d forgotten what he was doing? Keeping the zones safe, saving people from dracs, protecting his family. Who gave a shit about running water and good food?

Destroya left them then, they all felt it. She wasn’t needed anymore, she’d done her work. Kobra and Ghoul waited a beat before moving to stand Poison up. He quickly went to grab his old clothes, fresh and clean from being washed. Lucky talked a bit with the woman, Shitty Teen he learned, about what they should do next. Turned out, they were all in need of new batteries too. Lucky smiled at her.

“Sure is lucky you all have batteries that work with your specified models in the cargo car.”

She ran to check and found a stockpile of them all. But even doing that, Lucky knew Poison’s battery type wasn’t there. They still had to find his elsewhere or in the city. Unfortunately, Lucky couldn’t duplicate anything that wasn’t already in the zones. If he could, he’d already have Poison a new battery. But his powers didn’t extend into the city. He told the Killjoys as much when they started moving to a part of the train they could jump off of.

“It’s fine,” Ghoul said, waving him off. “I can get into Bat City any time. I don’t need your luck to get me in, but maybe just to get me there.”

They waited for Shitty to slow the train down to a crawl, then they all carefully jumped off and waved goodbye. It wouldn’t be the last time they would see the droids on the train, Poison wanted to make sure of that. But for now, he had to get back to work. 

* * *

Back to work they went, running through the mountains to try and get back to the car before the sun went down. One thing Kobra and Ghoul had learned from their days in the mountain range was that driving at night was especially hard. Ghoul felt like it was the fact that nothing was flat out here that made it almost impossible to drive around at night.

Once they finally found the car, just before the sun went behind one of the smaller mountains, they all took a moment to breathe. Each of them took stock of themselves.  
Kobra was feeling jittery like he’d been drinking coffee, but he assumed that was the leftover adrenaline from jumping onto and off of the train.

Ghoul was still reeling from the way Poison had been talking. He’d never talked to him like that before, it was like he was a totally different person. It was scary. They’d have to talk about it together, but until then Ghoul hoped he’d never see whoever that was again.

On the same track but from a different direction, Poison was mentally beating himself up. How could he talk to Ghoul like that? How dare he? He’d acted like a fucking child, would Ghoul even want to talk with him about it? They had to talk, he had to apologize. He didn’t realize it then, but clearly he’d put their entire relationship in danger. He didn’t want to lose Ghoul, not over him acting like an idiot about not wanting to leave his cushy train life.

Lucky, in contrast to the other guys’ internal monologues, was getting chewed out by the Phoenix Witch for revealing himself to them.

_What have you done?!_

_I did what I had to do._

_You didn’t have to do THAT!_

_I did! Did you see how the universe shifted when I made sure they got on the train safely? I wouldn’t be surprised if something got deleted in the process! We still have Twinkies?_

_This is serious, Lucky!_

_I know! That’s why I chose to do what I did. Look, I’m in the middle of something-_

_Clearly!_

_-And I don’t need your fucking permission anymore! I’m a protector, just like you and Destroya. If you two get to make decisions I don’t understand, so do I!_

_You’re being unreasonable-_

_Ditto!_

Lucky shook his head, getting into the back of the car. He shoved her out of his head. He blinked for a moment. He’d never been able to do that before. He was always the one getting booted out of conversations, but now he was able to do it too. Maybe he’d grown.

“Okay, where to first?” Kobra asked, dropping into the driver’s seat and starting the car.

“What?” Ghoul slipped into the passenger seat. “The city, Kid, where else?”

“Home base?” Kobra checked to make sure they all had their seatbelts on before speeding off toward the dirt road they’d used to get there. “We can stop off there, explain the situation-”

“We don’t have time,” Poison said. He could feel his joints stiffening. He hadn’t needed a new battery in so long, he’d almost forgotten the signs of needing a new one. Stiff joints, tired all the time, slow speech. Those were the early signs. Memories came flooding back of worse times. Greenish skin, inky black veins covering your body, your voice sounding like a glitching buffering video, and severely delayed processing. They had no time to waste. “Drive as close to the city as possible, we have to get batteries first.”

Ghoul turned around to look at him worriedly.

“Don’t panic, I’ll be fine, just focus on getting there first. Plus I think getting the shit kicked out of us by Show Pony would probably just drain my battery more.”

Everyone chuckled. Kobra drove faster to find the main road. It might take them all night to get there. Zone 6 was fucking far out of the way that they normally went, and it was bigger too. One of the biggest zones, not only for its radius.

Kobra sped up once they finally found the main highway, testing the new car’s top speed. They didn’t know how much time they had, but if Poison said they needed to hurry then they needed to fucking hurry. The drive was painfully quiet. No one had the balls to turn the radio on, mostly for fear that either Dr. Death would be there begging for someone to give news on his boys or that Show Pony would be announcing the bounty on their heads. But they also refused to talk to each other. Well, refused was a strong word. Truthfully, there was just an awkward air in the car that no one knew how to clear.

The sun started to set when they finally saw the city. Poison was taking slow, controlled breaths. Ghoul wished they could get there faster, he was starting to worry every time he glanced in the rear view mirror at Poison.

“You okay?” Ghoul asked finally. They were close to the offramp leading toward the city.

Poison didn’t acknowledge him for a full minute, then opened his eyes and said, “yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Ghoul turned around in his chair.

Poison stared in the rear view mirror at no one for a while, then looked at where he was now, then finally said, “yeah, why?”

“Oh god,” Ghoul muttered, facing the front of the car again. “Nothing, just hold on a little longer.”

Kobra slowed the car the closer to the city they got, eventually pulling over and turning the car off. They sat in the dark, staring at the city that loomed nearby. It felt horrible to be this close to the city limits. Ghoul knew that the batteries he’d need were deep inside the lower levels of he city, which was not awesome.

“What’s the plan?” Kobra asked, turning to Ghoul.

“We go in-” Ghoul started.

“We?!” Kobra shouted.

“We! We go in, head straight for the third level, break into the first vending machine we can find, steal as many batteries as we can carry, and then fuckin’ book it out of there!” Ghoul shouted back. “You have a better plan?”

“Well- no…” Kobra sat back in his seat. “It’s just- I haven’t- you know?”

“I know.” Ghoul undid his seatbelt. “I won’t leave your side, though, I promise.”

“We?” Poison said, tilting his head to the side.

“Alright let’s go,” Kobra said, taking his seatbelt off too.

“Guys, I think I’m lagging,” Poison said suddenly. “So I just want you two to know that I love you and please be careful.”

“Okay, mom,” Kobra chuckled, getting out of the car.

“We’ll be careful,” Ghoul said, leaning back to give him a quick kiss before getting out of the car. “Lucky, keep him safe please.”

“Don’t worry, we’re lucky we’re hidden from them this close,” Lucky called as they ran toward the city.

“Don’t kiss me when I’m lagging!” Poison shouted from the car.

“Save your energy, dumbass!” Ghoul shouted back.

Him and Kobra ran toward the dead-looking gates to the topside city slums. The city had been eerily quiet since the last time Ghoul had been there. They hadn’t caused any new accidents or made any huge moves since then. That meant there was room for there to be a new big issue in the zones, but it could also mean that something big was happening in the city. The deeper they got into the city the less they had to guess what was going on.

In the sections of the city that Ghoul recognized as wealthier up top, there were huge swaths of shops that had closed down. Abandoned, graffiti covering them, trash littered around like it was the Outer Ring or something.

“Something feels off,” Kobra said, peeking around a corner.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Ghoul muttered.

They kept going, passing either a sleeping homeless person or a dead one. The deeper they went the more uneasy they felt. Then, they turned a corner and their stomachs dropped. The upper gates were shut down. The neon lights usually lighting the entryway were off, the turnstiles were covered in caution tape, and the guard posts were boarded up.

“What the fuck?!” Ghoul whispered. “What the fuck?!”

“I don’t know, this feels so awful,” Kobra groaned, moving closer to the shut down gates. “We can still get by.”

“But for how far?!” Ghoul felt his breathing kick up. He was freaking out. How were they going to get the batteries now?!

“Calm down, we’ll find a way in.” Kobra tore the caution tape and walked past the gate, going down the not-moving escalators.

Ghoul followed quickly, bounding down the stairs and glancing around nervously.

Below the gates, the area that lead into the lower levels and the inner city was completely closed down and abandoned.

“What the fuuuck,” Ghoul whispered, picking at his nails.

“Yeah, what the fuck?” Kobra said, walking to the metal wall that separated the inner city from the shut down checkpoint. “What happened?”

“Good fucking question.” Ghoul pressed his ear to the wall, hearing a small amount of bustling behind it. “There’s still people in the city, though.”

“Let’s go through a guard station,” Kobra offered, pointing to the broken glass of the nearest guard post.

They both climbed through the broken window, finding a poorly barricaded door that led to an abandoned break room. From there, they slipped into the thinly populated other side of the checkpoint. Surprisingly undetected, as well.

“This is bad,” Ghoul muttered, glancing around for guards. “This is gonna be a fucking hard trip back.”

“Maybe that was the idea,” Kobra said, pointing to a billboard hovering above the carless street.

_The City is Safer Now :) Please Stay Underground :) Everything is Perfectly Fine :) Do Not Talk To Strangers :) Report Strange Activity Immediately :) - Message Provided by the BLI Temporary Authority_

“Temporary?” Ghoul stared at the billboard. “Did I actually-?”

“Did you actually what?” Kobra asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Well, I punched the lights out of Her, but she was talking through a droid like always,” Ghoul said, ignoring the instant confusion crossing Kobra’s face. “But maybe I did more harm than I thought.”

“Whatever, let’s get lower,” Kobra said, shaking his head. “We’re not here to solve the lore of the goddamn city.”

“No, but it could be an issue. I look too much like Her…” Ghoul followed him, still glancing around.

“Could you please stop looking so shifty?” Kobra bumped him in the shoulder. “You’re supposed to be the one keeping me sane, not the one losing it.”

“Sorry…”

The inner city first level was sparsely populated, which meant that either they would be able to get to the second and third levels easier or that they would be easily spotted and arrested. Ghoul wasn’t eager to figure out which was more likely, but unfortunately they didn’t have Lucky down here.

Almost exactly two minutes after entering the first level of the city and starting through the buildings toward the gates to the second level, they were met with a line of guards.

“Excuse me,” a low, soft voice called. It was the voice of a scarecrow. It was the voice of Korse. “May I ask what you two are doing here?”

“Oh fuck,” Kobra groaned.

“Out of the way, unless you want me to kick your ass again,” Ghoul snarled, stomping toward him, causing the guards to raise their blasters.

“Now, now,” Korse held up a hand to calm the guards. “There’s no need for fighting. Just tell me what you need.”

“What?” Ghoul glared at him.

“You’re Her son. Whether we like that or not, that means I have to listen to you.”

“What?!” Ghoul laughed. “What the fuck are you talking about?!”

Korse just stared at him.

“Holy-” Ghoul blinked, taking a step back. “Is- holy shit, is she dead?”

Korse shifted on his feet, saying nothing.

“Holy shit. What are you guys going to do?” Ghoul was smiling, elated, over the fucking moon. “Your mommy’s dead, oh shit! Ha! This city is going to fall the fuck apart!”

“For now, we do our best to protect our assets.” Korse cracked his neck, looking uncomfortable. “But I do wish to understand what you’re doing here. You seemed to be in a hurry.”

“What does it matter to you? Are you in charge now?”

“As Her best scarecrow, I am in temporary authority, yes.”

“Stellar. We’re here to grab some batteries and we’ll be on our way and you can go back to stirring your fish in your barrel.” Ghoul crossed his arms, tapping his foot. “Take your time getting out of the way.”

“Batteries?” Korse raised an eyebrow. “I thought everything ran on gasoline out there?”

“EveryTHING, but not everyONE.” Ghoul glared harder at him.

“Oh.” Korse’s whole demeanor changed then, and Ghoul hated it. He hated how he got to make that face, like he’d lost something he’d cared about. He hated that Korse got to feel that longing for something long lost. Fuck him. “Are you getting batteries for…”

“None of your motherfucking business, now fucking MOVE.” Ghoul ground his heel into the street.

Korse looked conflicted, maybe even sad. He seemed to have a scar from their last encounter, a realization that made Ghoul’s ego blow right up.

“Look,” Kobra said suddenly, walking past Ghoul. “We don’t have much time. He’s outside the city and he’s fading fast. He needs a new battery tonight and if we don’t get back in time with one he could die. If you cared about him at all you would let us through so we can get him a battery.”

Ghoul opened his mouth to object to this tactic, it felt disgusting and gross, not to mention totally manipulative. But Korse was rocked with emotion then, something Ghoul had never seen before. His eyebrows furrowed and tears welled up in his eyes.

“I-I was-” Korse stuttered. “I was so a-afraid something- She’d done something t-to him, I- I’m sorry, please follow me, I’ll take you to a stockpile.”

Kobra smiled and Ghoul followed reluctantly. He didn’t feel good at all about how they’d done that. It felt icky. They could NOT tell Poison about this.

The stockpile was way closer than the third level of the city. Ghoul had actually never known they kept battery stockpiles above the third level, but he supposed it made sense. The building was unmarked and had a huge garage door in front. Korse pulled it up and inside, sitting right there, unprotected, was a literal pile of batteries.

“What kind does he use, again?” Korse asked.

* * *

“How long are they going to be?” Poison asked. His chest felt heavy, which was a new sensation.

“Not long now,” Lucky said, holding his hand tight. “They’re probably on the third level by now.”

Truthfully, Lucky couldn’t see a single thing past the city’s limits. It was part of being a zone protector, you could only protect those in the zones. Some cosmic rules that he didn’t understand. But he hoped. He hoped harder than he ever had that they would come back safe and sound and with batteries galore. Lucky knew better than anyone that hope and belief in others could create tangible change. He was a manifestation of his father’s hope and belief, a protector born from the belief in safety and the relentless, unconditional protection of others.

“I can’t feel my hands.”

Lucky whipped his head around, staring worriedly at Poison. His face- all his skin was turning a greenish hue, sickly and terrifying. Lucky had never seen a sick droid before, and it was scary. Inky black veins were slowly showing up all over Poison, raised and angry.

“Can you divert power to other places? Buy yourself more time?” Lucky asked, trying not to cry. He wasn’t dying, he wasn’t going to die.

“Yeah,” Poison said after two minutes. “I already have.”

“Okay. Stop talking then.” Lucky brushed the hair out of his face and went back to watching the city.

Please hurry the fuck up.

* * *

“Are you sure that’s all?” Korse asked, following them like a sad puppy. “We can provide food, if you need it.”

“Nope,” Ghoul grumbled. “Time limit, remember?”

“O-of course, I’m sorry.” Korse waved a hand, then straightened his jacket. “J-just- can you tell him-”

“No.” Ghoul spun around to stare at him. “Dude, you’ve gotta understand that he doesn’t want to hear about you. I don’t know what you thought you two had, but he’d had nightmares about you.”

Korse seemed taken aback by that.

“I think you need to reevaluate the relationship you two had. Because whatever it was, it wasn’t fucking healthy.” Ghoul turned back around and went toward the door to the guard post. Kobra was already working his way back through the broken window.

“Do…” Korse said quietly.

“What?”

“Do you… Do you make him happy?” Korse looked like a child then, and Ghoul wondered if he’d ever had time to be one.

“I do.” Ghoul stared at him. “I make him happy, and he makes me happy.”

“Do you think I could’ve…”

“I think if you hadn’t been who you are,” Ghoul said, then cringed. “I mean, if you hadn’t been a scarecrow. If you’d been a normal citizen, or even just a guard, you would’ve been better off.”

Korse nodded, staring into space.

“But it’s no use dwelling on what could’ve been. Go forward, and nowhere else, okay?” Ghoul left without waiting for his answer. He was running out of time, he could feel it.

Kobra and Ghoul ran as fast as they could up the stairs to the surface. Kobra had stuffed as many batteries as possible into his jacket and zipped it up, and Ghoul had shoved a bunch in his pants pockets and was holding a bunch more. They managed to keep all of them with them as they ran out of the slums back toward the car.

When they finally got outside the gate, Ghoul felt his heart jump when he saw Lucky standing outside the car, waiting for them. Then, suddenly, they were right there with Lucky, as if they’d always been there.

“Sorry!” Lucky said, frantically helping the boys right themselves. “I-I just needed to get you two here faster!”

“What happened?” Kobra asked.

“Oh my god,” Ghoul breathed, dropping the batteries he’d been holding.

Poison looked dead already. His skin was sickly green, black veins covered his whole body, and his eyes were white.

“Get him out of the car,” Ghoul demanded, switching into the action-brain he’d been working on. He couldn’t just sit around and freak out, they still had time.

Lucky and Kobra carefully pulled Poison out of the car and knelt him down in the dirt. Ghoul sat behind him as Kobra pulled his shirt off. The battery on any droid was easy to find when they were low on power. All the black veins led straight to it. The battery was a perfect square, and the veins stopped in that perfect square around it on a droid’s back. Ghoul pressed his fingers into Poison’s back, allowing the panel to open up and show him the drained battery. It felt icky, opening him up without his permission. Ghoul reached in and undid the first connection, connecting it to the new battery.

“What are you doing?” Kobra asked, impatient. “This is going to take forever!”

“If they can’t safely shut off beforehand, it has to be one connection at a time,” Ghoul said, voice painfully mechanical, like he was reading it out of a book. And the memory of doing so flooded back to him. Being a guard meant you had to understand how the city’s droids worked, and how to properly preserve their property. Ripping a droid’s battery out when they couldn’t shut down properly would result in “damaged goods” as the city called it. In other words, death.

One connection at a time, Ghoul systematically changed out Poison’s battery. As he did, the black veins got less intense, slowly fading as they were given power back. Eventually there was only a few connections left, and Poison’s skin was already looking better, so Ghoul finished disconnecting the old battery and finally finished putting the new one in. He closed the panel in his back and rested his forehead on it, sighing in relief.

“Whoa,” Poison said, his voice speeding up from what it had sounded like when they’d left. The weird metallic filter was gone, too. “Let’s not do that again.”

“Agreed,” Ghoul laughed, hugging him around his middle.

“Holy shit that was too close,” Kobra said, dropping into the dirt and laying on his back. “You were dead.”

“I wasn’t dead,” Poison scoffed. “I only dress that way.”

Ghoul hugged him tighter, feeling tears form in his eyes. “Stop fucking almost dying, please.”

“Okay.” Poison twisted around and hugged him back, pressing his hand into Ghoul’s hair. “I’m sorry for what I said on the train. I was acting like an ass.”

“That’s an understatement,” Kobra said. He was about to fall asleep in the cool sand after all that drama.

“I was lost in their way of life.” Poison held Ghoul through his tears. “I wanted things to stay simple. They had soap and running water and addictive drinks and fresh food on demand. It was heaven.”

Kobra sat up to stare at him.

“Yes, you heard me right, I said they have soap.”

Kobra stared up at the stars like he had just learned that god was real.

“But I let myself get totally lost in that. I can’t do that ever again.” He ran his fingers through Ghoul’s hair. “And I won’t.”

“S-sorry I shou-outed too,” Ghoul stuttered through a hiccup.

“You had every reason to be mad.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Ghoul pulled back and wiped his nose. Poison tried not to melt at his boyfriend’s tearstained face. “I was really scared I’d lose you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Lucky got everyone back into the car after that, telling them it was about time they face the consequences of all their actions. Lucky drove while Kobra sat in the passenger seat, with Ghoul sleeping with his head in Poison’s lap in the back seats.

The drive back to the radio tower was quiet, this time comfortably so. Lucky didn’t drive especially fast, Poison and Ghoul slept, and Kobra even turned the radio on with the volume low. When he did, he and Lucky were immediately at attention.

“…the last time I’m saying it, if you can hear me, answer over the goddamn radio.” Dr. Death’s extremely annoyed and tired voice crackled through the station. “I’ve been trying this for almost a week, and if by some means of dumb luck you’re just hearing this now, I need to know if my boys are alive. If you were hoping to hear music this late, go to sleep. If you’re a Killjoy, go to the secure channel and press the talk button twice.”

Kobra fumbled to get the car’s glove box open as Dr. D said all this, taking out the walkie and turning it on, pressing the talk button twice as instructed.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Dr. Death screamed, then the station went dead. The next thing they heard was his voice booming through the walkie talkie. “Where the hell have you been?!”

“I’m so so sorry, Dr. D,” Kobra said quickly, shooting an apologetic look to the back seat where Poison and Ghoul had been woken up. “I’m sorry we stole the car and I’m sorry we went dark like that. Such a stupid thing to do.”

“You two are fucking dead when you get back here, you hear?! Show Pony’s far past being worried for you!”

“I know! And we’ll take any punishment they dish out. But we got him back.”

“What?” Dr. Death’s tone changed, softened. “You did?”

“We did.”

“Hey, Dr. Death Defying,” Poison called over Kobra’s shoulder. “I’m coming for your brand.”

“Holy shit,” Dr. D sounded beside himself with joy suddenly. He was laughing. “Don’t ever do that to me again!”

“Promise not to!” Poison laughed too.

When they pulled up to the radio tower, Dr. Death and Show Pony were there waiting for them. As soon as they got out of the car, any and all expressions of anger melted off Show Pony’s face.

“Oh my god, what happened?!” Show Pony shouted, running up and taking Poison’s wrist. He still had some dark veins slowly going away.

“Got a little careless and we didn’t have the backups anymore.” Poison hugged them tight. “Took a detour into the city, took care of it.”

Show Pony didn’t say anything after that, just hugging him back. They gave a sympathetic look to Ghoul as he shuffled toward the door.

“What the actual fuck you three?!” Jet shouted, bursting outside and tackling Ghoul in an angry hug.

“Augh!” Ghoul shouted in surprise as he was knocked onto his ass.

“You bitches stole the car and went and saved our idiot without me?!” Jet smacked Ghoul upside his head and got up to target Kobra next.

“I’m sorry!” Kobra shouted, running behind the car to get away.

“You’re gonna be!” Jet shouted back, following him.

“How did I ever think I could leave you motherfuckers,” Poison laughed, doubling over.

“You’re not off the hook either, robo-moron!” Jet turned around and started running toward him now.

“Wait!” Poison screamed, sprinting around Show Pony. “I can’t run fast right now and you’re taller than me, you have longer legs, it’s not fair!”

“Too bad, stupid!” Jet ran up and spun him around in a hug, squeezing the air out of him. “If you ever get brainwashed again, I swear!”

“I pro-mise no-t to,” Poison choked out, patting his back. “Whe-n did y-ou ge-t j-ack-ed?!”

Jet had to laugh now, letting Poison go. Ghoul was still on the ground, head spinning from all the emotions he’d gone through. Kobra was stealthily moving toward the radio tower to escape. Lucky was leaning on the car and watching with a smile.

“You kept them safe,” Dr. D said to Lucky, rolling over to him. “Thank you.”

“Of course I kept them safe,” Lucky said with a smile. “I promised.”

* * *

After all of that, the fear of losing Poison, the anger at Kobra and Ghoul for stealing the car to get him back, the panic of almost losing Poison after they’d just got him back, and the mess of emotions with them all coming back, the Killjoys went straight to bed. Dr. Death made sure they were all in good health before sending them to their rooms. They all piled onto Poison’s bed, though. It was almost routine that after something big and crazy happened they would all sleep in the same bed. They were a family, they would cuddle if they wanted to.

Despite Poison being the one who’d almost died, the boys all crowded Jet.

“Sorry we left without you,” Kobra said, squishing his face comically against Jet’s. “You’re just too practical, you would’ve stopped us.”

“You’re right, I would’ve!” Jet grumbled. “You guys had plenty of time from what you’ve said, you didn’t have to leave without me!”

“But we had to leave right away,” Ghoul whined, pouting.

“Why?”

“Because we’re impulsive!” Ghoul was glued to Poison’s side, but he reached a hand out to put on Jet’s face.

“Okay, fucking-” Jet swatted his hand away and shoved Kobra’s face off his. “Whatever, at least you guys didn’t die out there.”

“Promise not to die in the zones without you,” Kobra cooed.

“Oh good!” Jet laughed. “Thanks.”

“Why didn’t you just go after them?” Poison asked, yawning.

“Dr. D said the cycle was still dead from you taking it and the van wouldn’t do well on the winding roads up there.” Jet allowed Kobra to snuggle up to him like a kid, rolling his eyes. “I almost contacted the Sisters or something, but Show Pony-”

“Say no more,” Poison chuckled. “I’m sure they locked your ass in your room.”

“The studio, actually,” Jet laughed.

“Wait, really?” Kobra looked up at him, amused.

“As soon as I mentioned leaving to find zoners to help they literally locked me in the studio.”

“Okay, we need to talk to them about that,” Ghoul said, shaking his head.

They settled into silence, the fatigue of everything finally setting in. Within the hour, both Kobra and Jet were snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Poison and Ghoul were tangled up together, just enjoying being together again.

Ghoul was exhausted, but he didn’t want to sleep. Last time he fell asleep Poison was ripped away from them. Poison was tired as hell too, but he didn’t want to sleep either. He just kept running his fingers through Ghoul’s hair. Eventually, Poison heard Ghoul’s breathing even out and the tense arm around him relaxed. It was time to sleep.

* * *

“Poison!” Ghoul shouted from far above him. Poison was laying in a bed of grass, staring up at the starry sky. Ghoul, it seemed, was in a hot air balloon. “Hey! Up here!”

“What are you doing up there?” Poison called, watching the balloon slowly move across the sky.

“I wanted to see further but there’s nothing out there!” Ghoul jumped out of the balloon, and Poison sat up, scared.

Poison had a memory, a flash of blue lapping waves, and then Ghoul splashed into the ocean. He started sinking until the sand of the beach rose up to meet his legs and allowed him to stand above the waves.

“Whoa,” Ghoul whispered, staring out at the water. “What is-”

“It’s a beach,” Poison said, standing up out of the water too. “It’s the ocean.”

“Like Dr. D used to talk about?”

“Yeah. The train goes by it, that’s all there is that far west.” Poison remembered the rocks, so then there were rocks.

“Wow. It’s beautiful.” Ghoul dipped his hands into the water. When he lifted them out they came back covered in glitter and blue pigment.

“I remember how it looked when we were running,” Poison said, and the scene changed suddenly. The night sky was the blackest black, and the stars shone like glitter through it. The water moved like it was dancing and there were faceless laughing people running past where they stood on the beach. “It was so much more beautiful. I felt like I could see everything. Feel everything.”

“Can-…” Ghoul started, but stopped to watch the people run. “Can you not feel things normally?”

“I can,” Poison said, sighing away the scene and letting the beach look normal. “I just. It was heightened. By the drinks.”

Ghoul reached into the water and pulled up sand this time, and even that was made of glitter.

“I don’t know. I really want to feel like that again.” Poison stared at the beach, looking out at the water sadly.

“How do you think you can feel like that again?” Ghoul asked, inching closer to him.

“I don’t know. I just want to feel like that again. Like everything I see is more beautiful than I remember, like everything I touch has real weight, like everything I breathe is filling me with purpose.”

“Tall order,” Ghoul said, tapping his chin. “But I think I can hack it.”

“What?” Poison turned to him, amused.

“I said, tall order, but I think I can hack it.” Ghoul repeated, reaching out to smear the golden glittery sand over Poison’s face. “Might sound cheesy as hell, but wake up and look at me and tell me how you feel.”

Poison said nothing, allowing his face to be painted with golden glitter. He didn’t know what Ghoul was planning but he watched as Ghoul started melting into the sand until he was gone. Poison was alone and had to wake up.

Wake up, dumbass, wake up!

* * *

  
When Poison opened his eyes he was face-to-face with Ghoul, whose eyes were sparkling in the moonlight. His hair was a mess and he still looked tired. Without saying anything, Ghoul slid a hand up and behind Poison’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Poison melted, forgetting any other reason to exist other than this. When Ghoul pulled away, Poison huffed in frustration. But when he opened his eyes again and saw Ghoul’s face he remembered that feeling of running through the water on the beach. He remembered it, but when left him breathless was that he felt more than that.

Ghoul was the best feeling in the world and nothing would change that for Poison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if anyone has a recommendation on what to add to the tags after reading this, please leave a comment with it. I have such a hard time tagging my writing probably because I'm so bad at summarizing that I'm just like "what DID happen?? What actually happened in this???"  
Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave comments and kudos and stuff. <3  
(Bonus chapter to follow)


	2. BONUS: York Learns to Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ghoul promises to teach York how to drive, and she holds him to that promise on her fourteenth birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want goofy shit? Didn't like that the main story ended so soon? Here. Have this. Get excited about my next fic that won't be done for another millennia.

It was a special day in the zones. Quick Silver had called the Killjoys down to the Hideout for the birthdays of two of the kids, namely Rochester and York. It wasn’t their actual birthdays, but the anniversary of the day Silver found them. Rochester was younger than York by a few years. Silver estimated she had been eight when she’d found her, which would make this around her ninth birthday. York was about thirteen when she found her, so this was her fourteenth birthday. Rochester had asked for toys from the zones above them, and the Killjoys made sure to bring as many as they could carry.

York had only asked for one thing for her birthday.

“Teach me how to drive,” she’d demanded one day, standing over Ghoul as he worked underneath the trans am.

“What?” Ghoul rolled out to look at her.

“For my birthday.” York looked determined as always. “You asked a few days ago what I want, and I want you to teach me how to drive.”

So, After the Killjoys got to the bottom of Dead Man’s Drop and had dropped into Quick Silver’s little house near Lucky’s, Ghoul stood up from the couch and looked directly at York.

“You ready, kid?” Ghoul said.

And in that moment, the whole of the zones stopped, because York smiled. The small, terrifying, serious little girl who never took shit from anyone, who had almost died to protect her siblings multiple times, who had the nerve to shout in Ghoul’s face and hold her ground against dracs, smiled.

She ran out of the house toward the lift to the top of the Drop, bouncing on her feet as she waited for Ghoul to catch up to her. It was the cutest fucking thing the Killjoys had ever seen. Poison decided to go with them just to keep an extra pair of eyes and ears on the zones while they went about their business.

Jet and Kobra stayed behind to give Rochester a fun birthday, making sure she felt like she was being paid attention to. One of the toys she’d gotten was a bottle rocket, which Quick Silver gave a tight-lipped thank you to Kobra for. Jet had found her a kids’ spy kit with all sorts of silly gadgets that she could use to set traps around the house. Silver “appreciated” that one too. Lucky showed up a bit late, but came with the clear winners of the day. Two small figures, hand-made, dressed to look like the Phoenix Witch and Quick Silver.

“Your two protectors,” Lucky said, handing them to her. “They’ll watch over you and make sure you stay safe.”

Rochester looked at the figures, then up at him with big, teary eyes and gave him a hug.

“Thank you, Lucky,” she said, shoving her face into his shirt to dry her tears before he could see them.

“You’re welcome,” Lucky laughed, patting her back.

At the top of Dead Man’s Drop, Ghoul got into the driver’s seat with York at his side and Poison in the back seat.

“So, first, you have to learn what the parts of the car are,” Ghoul started, seeing York’s smile fade when she had to get in the passenger’s seat. “You can’t drive if you don’t know what everything does.”

York nodded, looking determined again.

He started pointing out all the levers and buttons, teaching her about the essentials like the emergency break, the headlights, the safety button that basically turned the car briefly into a tank to stop bullets and other projectiles, the windshield wipers, and so on. He showed her the gas pedal, the regular brake pedal, and the hazard lights.

After about an hour of just telling her what you used and how to use it to drive, he agreed to let her sit in the front seat and try some of the buttons and levers for herself.

In the back seat, Poison was literally playing Pong in his head. Back, forth, back, forth…

Eventually Ghoul was done quizzing York on the mechanics of the car and was ready to let her actually turn it on. He had her put her seatbelt on and then let her turn the car on, and when she did she froze.

“You okay?” Ghoul leaned over to see her face.

“I- I think so.” York was staring intently at the steering wheel. “This is kinda scary now.”

“That’s okay, take your time.”

Poison peeked out at them. Back, forth, back, forth…

“Okay. I think I’m ready,” York said, putting her hands on the steering wheel.

“Alright, cool,” Ghoul said, patting her shoulder. “You’re pointed away from the Drop so you can floor it if you want.”

“Okay, um, don’t do that though,” Poison chimed in, eyes still shut. Back, forth…

“Right. Not going to drive off the cliff, safe to drive fast if I have to,” York said. She went through the checklist Ghoul had given her, checking her mirrors, the windows, the ejector status, the windshield, and the brakes. Then, she took the car out of park and put it in drive. Carefully she pressed the gas and the car moved gently forward.

“You’re doing great,” Ghoul assured. “I know it can seem like a lot to focus on, but make sure you watch in front of you and check behind you every once in a while.”

York only nodded, fully focused on driving forward. She slowly started speeding up. As she drove, checking the speed they were going, Ghoul didn’t say anything. She was doing everything right, watching the road in front of them, and checking the rear view mirror periodically.

Poison lost the game of Pong against himself and frowned in the back seat.

When York finally rolled to a stop she looked proud of herself.

“That was awesome! You did everything right.” Ghoul shook her shoulder after she put the car in park. “You even got up to thirty!”

“Thanks,” York said, and her voice was strangely small. “Do you think I’ll get as good as you someday?”

“Of course, I suck at driving,” Ghoul scoffed. “But you should try to learn some pointers from Kobra sometime.”

She pursed her lips.

“I know, you don’t really like him that much, but I promise he knows more than I ever could about cars. He basically built this car.”

“Really?” She ran a hand over the steering wheel. “What about Poison?”

In the back seat, Poison opened one eye and stared at her in the rear view.

“Uh, you don’t want to learn from Poison,” Ghoul said, grimacing. “He only does a very specific type of driving…”

“What type?” York twisted around to look at Poison, her bright eyes staring intently at him through her black hair.

“Desert racing,” Poison answered, smiling.

“Racing?” York turned to stare at Ghoul now.

“Yeah,” Ghoul sighed. “Zoners make fast cars and try to beat each other in car races. Poison’s favorite place to race is the gorge, but that’s a dangerous place even in a car.”

“Can you show me?” She asked, looking back at Poison.

“I don’t think-” Ghoul started, but Poison reached and shoved his face away.

“Of course!” Poison exclaimed. His smile was edging on manic at this point. “You can even sit in the passenger’s seat and watch to take notes!”

York was excited, rushing out of the car to run around to the other side as Poison pulled Ghoul from the front seat.

“This is a bad idea,” Ghoul groaned, dropping into the back seat.

“So what,” Poison said, waving him off. “So was agreeing to teach her to drive this young.”

“How was that a bad idea?” York asked.

“Because, the younger you are the more likely you are to catch the Crash Queen bug,” Poison explained. He had pulled out driving gloves from the glove box and was pulling them on. He opened a small compartment above the radio and took out a pair of aviator sunglasses, slipping them on and rolling down the windows. “And I intend to infest.”

“Nasty,” was all Ghoul was able to say before Poison threw the car into drive and sped off down the road.

Poison didn’t usually like driving on the road, but they did have a kid with them. Though, he figured a little off-road wouldn’t hurt, just to show her what it’s like. He made a sudden turn, pulling the car off the road and into the dirt, smiling when he heard York yelp in surprise.

“What are you doing?!” York shouted.

“Racing the wind!” Poison shouted back, pressing the gas pedal into the floor and pressing harder.

He drove faster and faster until he could see what he was after.

“Look!” Poison shouted over the wind, pointing out York’s window. “That’s what I love!”

York turned and looked out the open window, confused. But she saw it. The landscape had blurred, almost like it was paint smearing over a canvas. The warm colors of the land mixing with the cold blue sky, making a painting you could only see in a millisecond. The plants were almost non-existent, but when they were big enough they made gorgeous swatches of green and brown. She was entranced.

Poison drifted just to show her how to do it, finding a big empty intersection and skidding so much he imagined Kobra’s Spidey Senses were going off. Ghoul was trying not to throw up in the back seat, but York was on the edge of hers. Eventually they were speeding back toward the Drop, pulling off the road toward the lift and coming to a fast stop.

“Thanks for making me almost see my lunch again,” Ghoul groaned, flopping out of the car into the dirt.

“That was…” York muttered. Her hair had been blown around into a horrible mess, tangled up and sticking out. Her eyes were wide, not with fear but with wonder. “That was fucking awesome.”

“Yeah it was.” Poison, also now a mess, heart pumping with adrenaline and eyes manic, grabbed her shoulder playfully. “You want to drive like that someday?”

“Yes.” York looked at him with a smile.

“Start small, I promise to teach you once you get the basics down.” Poison got out of the car with her, fixing his hair and then going to fix hers. “But maybe don’t tell Silver I got you all excited to race.”

“Will you let me watch a race?” York asked, bouncing on her feet.

“Uh, maybe. Not from inside the car though,” Poison said, dragging Ghoul off the ground to his feet.

York bounced her way to the lift and pressed the button to go down once they were on with her. On the way down, Ghoul was finally able to stand up straight again without holding onto the railing.

“I hate when you drive like that,” he groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Makes my head spin.”

“I hate when you drive like a baby,” Poison fake-groaned. “Makes my screensaver turn on.”

“Fuck you.” Ghoul elbowed him.

“Fuck me?” Poison wiggled his eyebrows at him.

“Yuck, cut it out,” York said loudly, shivering dramatically. “You guys are so gross, get a room.”

“You don’t even know what that means,” Ghoul said.

“Don’t I?” She glared at him.

Once they got to the bottom of the Drop, York ran straight to Silver’s house. Inside, Kobra and Jet were talking with Silver and Lucky. It looked like Rochester and the other kids had gone to play with all Rochester’s new toys around the house.

It wasn’t a shack, like Lucky’s. It was actually a fairly big house, with a room for every kid and Quick Silver, too. It was made mostly of scrap metal, so it didn’t do that much in terms of shielding from the heat or the cold, but they’d built it tall so it didn’t feel so cramped. That, and the huge living spaces for the kids to be able to hang around inside and feel more comfortable.

“Hey!” Silver called when she saw York come in. “How did it go?”

“Awesome!” York said, running over. “I learned how to use all the parts of the car and I even got up to thirty!”

“Wow!” Silver glanced at Ghoul. She had no fucking idea how to drive, so she was looking for evidence that this was good or bad. Ghoul nodded to her and gave a thumbs-up.

“That’s so great! I’m really proud of you.”

“Whatever,” York huffed, brushing off the praise with pink cheeks. “When can I get my own car?”

“Oh, the Sisters will have to take you to do that,” Kobra said. “They’ll take you out to a junkyard or somewhere and you can pick it out and everything.”

York turned to him, realizing he was still there. “Do you think, maybe… You could teach me some things about driving too? Or maybe stuff about cars?”

“Sure little dude,” Kobra said, smiling. She’d had a hard time warming up to anyone other than Ghoul in the beginning. It was nice seeing her finally able to talk to the other Killjoys without having to go through Ghoul to do it. “I can teach you everything about cars.”

“Okay, cool, thanks,” York said fast, hiding her smile and running to find her siblings.

“Thank you for doing that, Fun Ghoul,” Silver said. “She’s been talking about it for weeks.”

“It was my pleasure.” Ghoul sat on the patched-together couch with the other Killjoys. “She was good at it, she’s a fast learner.”

“You didn’t do anything crazy, did you?” Jet asked, staring deadpan at Poison’s aviators that hadn’t left his face.

He quickly grabbed them off his face and tucked them in his jacket, realizing they were there.

“Nope, it was just simple, safe driving.” Ghoul always could lie too easily. “Right Poison?”

Poison, however, could not lie easily. He just nodded, staring at his hands.

“Right…” Silver squinted at them. “Well, anyway, whatever you did up there made her happy. So, do it again sometime.”

“Promise.” Ghoul nodded at her.

When the sun started setting they decided to head back up. On the drive home Ghoul tattled on Poison and Jet scolded him for taking York on a joyride.

“Silver is going to kill you when she finds out,” Jet said, shaking his head.

“If!” Poison tried to sound optimistic. “Maybe she won’t find out!”

“Yeah right, ‘if,’” Kobra sighed, rolling his eyes. “Silver’ll find out, I guarantee it. Nothing gets past her.”

“When she does find out, I’m letting her kick your ass,” Jet said over his shoulder.

After they got back to the radio tower it was laziness as usual. Kobra declared it Game Day, which usually took place at the Nest with some other gangs. But today they didn’t want to go anywhere else. Jet brought out the snacks they had, Kobra set up the game console they had stored in the studio, Poison pushed the couch into said studio, and Ghoul sat on the couch Poison was pushing just to be a little shit. 

They all piled onto the couch and started playing against each other. It was two players at a time, so Kobra and Poison played first. As per usual, they were playing a racing game.

“Get ready to lose,” Poison taunted, shoving chips into his mouth.

“In the words of Saint Rihanna, shut up and drive,” Kobra bit back, speeding off as soon as the level started.

Much to the annoyance of their couch buddies, they raced with their whole bodies. Poison elbowed Jet in the jaw more than once and by the end of the race was in Ghoul’s lap. Kobra opted for ending up standing on the table in front of them, crouching like a vulture to see better.

“Out of the way, dick!” Poison shouted, leaning more over Ghoul. “You’re blocking the fucking TV!”

“And you’re about to lose!” Kobra shouted back, laughing.

Jet was covering his face with his hands. This always happened when they raced each other, they should’ve known better. Ghoul was quietly drinking his juicebox as Poison jammed his shoulder into his stomach.

“No no no!” Poison was throwing a fit, banging his controller against Ghoul’s knee. “You suck ass, I’m gonna destroy you!”

“Then do it, bitch!” Kobra cackled, spending yet another power-up on slowing Poison down.

“Face me like a man!” Poison growled, taking a shortcut to get further ahead.

“Why should I have to?” Kobra took a shortcut too, creating more space between them.

“You’re being a coward!”

“You’re being a loser!”

Ghoul reached around Poison and put a Fruit by the Foot in his mouth, partly to shut him up and partly because he could use the sugar to win. 

It was their last lap, and Poison was finally pulling out all the stops to get closer and closer to Kobra. Poison kept grumbling about how he’d gotten a head start and that if he hadn’t he’d be losing so bad right now. Kobra kept his perch on the table and focused on keeping his lead. By the halfway point, it was clear that Poison was taking the fight to him, and he was getting less and less lucky with saving power-ups. Eventually, Poison caught up to him, used one of the most hindering power-ups in the game, and from there it was clearly all over for him. Poison took the lead, got lucky and found three shortcuts in a row, and he was gone. Kobra didn’t see his car the whole rest of the game, and by the time he passed the finish line Poison was already celebrating his victory.

“Ha! Un-de-feated!” Poison gloated, throwing chips at Kobra.

“You got lucky with those shortcuts,” Kobra muttered, flopping back onto the couch.

“You say that every time we play, just admit I’m the better racer.” Poison stayed in Ghoul’s lap, leaning back and snuggling into his boyfriend’s arms. Ghoul took the controller from him.

“Jet, race me,” Ghoul said, starting a new game.

“Now that the two crazies had their rematch,” Jet said, forcibly taking Kobra’s controller.

Ghoul and Jet raced with much less vigor, laughing when they messed each other up with power-ups. Poison kept trying to distract Ghoul by poking him in the sides or kissing his face and obscuring his view, but Ghoul wasn’t worried about losing. Jet wasn’t either, and got easily distracted by the game’s graphics and cool environments. Kobra gave him pointers that went ignored, and eventually he sat quietly and made mental noted on what Jet could be doing better. By the time their race ended, neither of them got in the top three. 

“You guys suck,” Kobra sighed, pouring chips into his mouth. 

“We just aren’t as serious as you two get,” Jet said, setting the controller on the table.

“So what you’re saying is…” Poison started mischievously. “If you wanted to win, you could?”

“Definitely,” Ghoul declared, staring him down.

“Game on, then, cowboy.” Poison snatched Jet’s controller off the table and started a new game. “Show me what you got.”

“You asked for it.”

Kobra and Jet inched away from them just in case. They often weren’t allowed to race each other in earnest, Poison got way too into it and Ghoul was the sorest of losers if he started to care too much.

“Bet you fifty Cs Ghoul wins,” Jet said to Kobra, watching the race get off to a horrible start for both of them.

“I’m game, but I think you should rethink your standing,” Kobra warned. “If he can beat me…”

“I know, but I like rooting for the underdog.”

“We can hear you, assholes,” Ghoul grumbled. He was already too serious about it.

“Okay, fifty Carbons on Ghoul,” Jet said, holding out his hand.

“Fifty on Poison,” Kobra agreed, taking his hand and shaking it.

The game was close, closer than Poison would’ve liked, but in the end he was the one who barely passed the finish line first. He jumped up from Ghoul’s lap, shaking from the anxiety of almost losing but celebrating his win. Ghoul stewed a while before shaking it off and setting his controller down.

“Good game,” Ghoul said, slapping Poison’s ass.

“Ow! Fucker…” Poison jumped away from him, throwing his controller on the table. “Yes, good game.”

“Hand it over, Star-boy,” Kobra said, sitting up.

“Won fair and square,” Jet sighed, getting out his wallet.

“You bet real money?” Poison glared at them. “How come I don’t get paid for winning? Twice?”

“Not how bets work, dimwit,” Kobra snapped.

“We should form a worker’s union,” Ghoul said, standing up. “We won’t race unless we get a cut of the betting winnings. Or better yet, our own wage!”

“Yeah!” Poison slid over to stand next to him. “Our talents are being taken advantage of! We demand compensation for our work!” 

They all argued over how racers should get paid in real life, how much they should be paid, and if those Carbons should come out of betting Carbons or separate pools of money. By the end of their discussion they all agreed zone racers should get paid at least something, then settled in to watch a scary movie before going to sleep. It had been a long, fun day, and they were more than ready to slow down and watch a bad horror movie. 

While watching said movie, Dr. D knocked on the studio door. Kobra got up and went out into the hall to talk to him.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kobra asked.

“Got a message from inside the city,” Dr. Death said, seeming confused and slightly worried. “It’s addressed to you.”

“What?” Kobra took the letter, tearing it open and reading it. “Oh shit.”

_To: Blondie_

_Heard you were living in the zones, found someone willing to pass along a message. Sorry if this freaks you out, but the Mad Gear and Missile Kid need an escort for our next tour and the Killjoys sound like a perfect fit. We’ll be hanging around the Zone 2 outpost whenever you decide to stop by and give us your answer. Totally fine if you don’t want to talk to us anymore._

_But if you do decide to do this for us, I promise to leave you be. I won’t ask you to join back up, I know that’s not your speed. I’m looking forward to seeing you again, though._

_Oh, also, Tango is back. He might see your new life a bit differently, but hopefully he’ll get it too. Again, just letting you know in case you’re not okay with that._

_With love: Mania_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm AAAAAAAA about my next fic. I have SO many ideas, SO many fun things already planned, SO. MUCH. ANGST. But this time, with out sweet baby brother, Kobra Kid. I'm excite. Are you?

**Author's Note:**

> Holy AAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
I'm so tired, I'm so sad it's over, I'm so READY TO WRITE THE NEXT ONE  
Ahem, sorry. I hope you enjoyed reading! As always, please let me know if there are any weird formatting issues, I formatted this in pieces as I backed it up over the course of a week so there could be issues. Also spelling errors or anything like that.  
Thank you for reading! Consider sharing your thoughts in the comments!!


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